To: Board of Directors
From: Lewis Broschard, Chief, Contra Costa County Fire Protection District
Report Title: FY 23 Assistance to Firefighters Grant - Heavy Rescue Vehicle
☒Recommendation of the County Administrator ☐ Recommendation of Board Committee
RECOMMENDATIONS:
RATIFY the Fire Chief’s, or designee’s, application to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program, in an amount not to exceed $2,233,963, for the acquisition of a heavy rescue response vehicle.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The total grant application is for an amount up to $2,233,963, with a 10% local agency cost sharing requirement. FEMA develops the mathematical formula to support grant recipients in determining the appropriate minimum amount of cost share required for the awarded items they receive. The District’s share would be $203,088, and the federal share would be $2,030,875.
The grant award may be lower than the amount requested. Due to changing conditions in the fire apparatus manufacturing space, along with price increases and continued supply chain concerns, the total cost of the project is currently an estimate. If awarded, a subsequent approval will be requested of the Board for purchasing authority with detailed actual costs of the apparatus.
BACKGROUND:
The Fiscal Year 2023 Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) Program objectives are to provide critically needed resources to equip and train emergency personnel, enhance efficiencies, and support community resilience. Acquiring a heavy rescue apparatus will enhance and advance an already thriving technical rescue program. The ability to respond with a piece of apparatus with this capability will greatly increase the options available to rescue crews. Relevant incidents range from motor vehicle collisions requiring disentanglement to responses in industrial and refining facilities located in the County. A heavy rescue response vehicle is essentially a giant rolling tool box. It contains equipment required for confined space rescue, high angle rescue and vehicle disentanglement. In a large scale disaster such as an earthquake, this vehicle will contain equipment used for urban search and rescue in a structural collapse. According to the United States Geological Survey, the probability of at least one earthquake of magnitude 6.7 or greater in the San Francisco Bay Region is 72 percent, and the probability of at least one earthquake of magnitude 7.0 or greater is 51 percent. An earthquake of this magnitude has the potential to cause multiple building collapses in our jurisdiction. The heavy rescue equipment will be used to save lives in this urban search and rescue scenario.
CONSEQUENCE OF NEGATIVE ACTION:
Without this grant, the District will not be able to purchase an important piece of equipment to facilitate technical rescue unless an alternate funding method is identified.