La Habra Heights Fire Department Awarded $870,000 SAFER Grant

La Habra Heights, California

An $870,000 grant has been awarded to the City of La Habra Heights Fire Department by the United States Department of Homeland Security.

The funding was provided via the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Staffing for Adequate Fire & Emergency Response (SAFER)grant program.

“We are very pleased to see the Federal government actively supports the excellent work being done by the La Habra Heights Fire Department,” says Mayor Kyle Miller.  “The residents of La Habra Heights are very proud of the cost-effective work our volunteer Fire Department has done for many years to keep our community safe.”

The SAFER grants program provides funding directly to fire departments and volunteer firefighter interest organizations throughout the nation to help increase or maintain the number of trained, "front line" firefighters available in their communities. The goal of SAFER is to enhance the local fire departments' abilities to comply with staffing, response and operational standards established by the National Fire Protection Association.

The La Habra Heights Fire Department provides Firefighters the opportunity to work on a fire engine, as a firefighter, responding to 911 emergencies in a professional setting. This experience helps them transition to a paid, career fire department with greater success. For this reason other fire departments actively recruit from La Habra Heights. 

Of the roughly eighty firefighters working for the Department, over 60% are successful at achieving their goal of becoming a career paid firefighter each year.

The grant duration totals of $870,000 over a four year period to assist the Department with Recruitment and Retention efforts for Firefighters and Paramedics. There are no cost match requirements or long term obligations for the City.

The grant provides funding for one Recruitment and Retention Officer to coordinate both recruitment and retention duties. This Officer will not have emergency response obligations. In addition to covering salary and benefit costs for this officer, the grant also includes funding for recruiting costs and equipment.  

The grant provides funding over the next four years to offset the costs of hiring new recruits; $104,000 for structural personal protective equipment valued at $4,000 per firefighter, $80,000 for medicals exams, $100,000 for training, $18,000 for new uniforms, and $16,000 for website development. 

“We intend to use these Federal funds very prudently as we continue working to provide the highest level of professional fire protection services to the La Habra Heights community,” says Fire Chief Doug Graft.

The grant award comes just days after the La Habra Heights Fire Department was rated in the top two percent of the 48,000 departments across the nation by the Insurance Services Office (ISO).  The organization upgraded the La Habra Heights Fire Department from a Class 5 ranking to a Class 2 effective September 1, 2016.  Areas included in the ISO evaluation included: 911 dispatch capability, Fire Department command staff, apparatus, automatic and mutual aid agreements, staffing levels, training, and fire prevention activities.  In addition, the water supply and fire hydrant system was evaluated.