MALTBY — Snohomish County Fire District 7 has been awarded a nearly $1.7 million federal grant, one of the largest of its type in the Northwest, to hire 16 new firefighters.
The grant, announced Friday, will allow the district to add extra firefighters to engine companies, increasing to four the number of people arriving on emergency calls, said Eric Andrews, deputy chief, Snohomish County Fire District 7.
The district has received more than $2 million in grants this federal fiscal year to enhance emergency services.
“It makes us feel very fortunate, very fortunate that we’re able to be successful,” Andrews said.
The additional firefighters will increase the district’s ranks by about 20 percent, to 97 professional firefighters. That should help the district put out fires more quickly, Andrews said. In the past, engine companies have responded with three firefighters.
With few exceptions, federal rules require at least four fighters be present before a team can enter a burning building, he said. With only three-person teams, District 7 crews have been forced to battle fires from the outside while they’ve waited for additional crews.
“If they were to go in and try to extinguish a fire, they’d be violating the law,” Andrews said. “If you have four (firefighters) in your engine company you can immediately send two people in. It can given you that extra edge in fighting a fire.”
The latest money is part of the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response, or SAFER, grant program, said Brian Ipsen, who coordinates the program regionally for the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Money also is distributed to fire departments through the Assistance for Firefighters Grant.
Fire departments nationwide compete annually for the federal money, Ipsen said. Applications are reviewed by fire professionals at the National Fire Academy in Emmitsburg, Md.
“It’s very prestigious to get one of these awards because the competition is so high,” Ipsen said.
Fire District 7 was selected out of about 1,500 applicants for the SAFER grant, he said. On average, about 300 grants are awarded nationwide.
The new firefighters should be hired and in training by August, Andrews said.
The district is currently reviewing about 300 candidates.
“There’s a lot of interest in people being firefighters,” he said.
Grant money is scheduled to be doled out over five years, he said.
“It gets these firefighters hired upfront and it gives us a phased-in way to figure out how to pay for them,” he said.
The new firefighters will be spread among the district’s seven stations. Fire District 7 provides emergency services to around 60,000 people in a 50-square-mile region in the southern part of Snohomish County.
The district was founded in 1946 and served about 1,600 people.
In December, the district was given about $196,000 to purchase a new engine tender and in January, the district received about $185,000 for breathing equipment.
Reporter Jackson Holtz: 425-339-3437 or jholtz@heraldnet.com.
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