FEMA Awards $4.7 Million to Salinas Fire Department to Bolster Staffing Numbers as the City Grows and Call Volume Increases
Salinas, CA – The Salinas Fire Department is set to receive $4.7 million as over 3 years to hire 9 additional positions. The grant was awarded as part of FEMA’s Staffing for Adequate Firefighter Response or “SAFER” program.
The Salinas City Council approved the Salinas Fire Department’s Long-Term Master Plan at last night's Council meeting as a roadmap for helping the fire department keep-up with the demands of a future growth area that is on the way, an expanding population, and the strains on current resources from an increased call volume and unsheltered populations in the City.
“Salinas firefighters now respond to over 16,000 calls per year with firefighter staffing below 2006 levels when the department responded to just over 9,000 calls per year,” says Salinas Fire Chief Samuel Klemek. “Our total response workload has increased 29.8% over the past seven years alone.”
Chief Klemek adds that 5.1% of that increase was between 2020 and 2022 and related to homelessness. Salinas has 0.58 firefighters per 1,000 residents which is far below the national median of 1.2 firefighters per 1,000 residents.
The extra staffing will allow the fire department to put more resources on the streets, reduce response times, and help firefighters operate as safely and effectively as possible. It will also allow the fire department to pilot alternative response models that could help relieve the pressure.
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