Task force recommends $248,500
from block grants for Rural FPD

By Joe Naiman
The Alpine Sun

     SAN DIEGO — The San Diego Rural Fire Protection District will receive a majority of the recommended trust fund and Community Development Block Grant money earmarked for the fire service.
     The county’s Task Force on Fire Protection and Emergency Medical Services recommended the allocation of $400,000 of trust fund and CDBG money during the task force’s Jan. 25 meeting, and the San Diego Rural Fire Protection District is slated to receive $248,500 of that. Although the allocations must be approved by the San Diego County Board of Supervisors, no past recommendation has ever been rejected by the BOS.
     The county has committed $200,000 in CDBG funds each year for needs of the fire service and an additional $200,000, derived from the savings of refinancing the county’s Otay prison, into a trust fund for the capital needs of fire agencies. CDBG funds are restricted to eligible neighborhoods, but trust fund awards have no such restriction.
     Applications for both sources of funding are reviewed by volunteers from the task force, who grade the applications and make recommendations for the entire task force to approve. The task force’s recommendations then go to the supervisors for approval. The task force gave its approval to the recommendations on Jan. 25.
     The October 2007 fires led to a one-week extension of the Oct. 26 deadline. Two agencies still submitted applications past the deadline, including Boulevard Fire and Rescue, which requested $53,458 for bay doors and a smoke system.
     The San Diego Rural Fire Protection District grants will be divided among seven stations. The Lake Morena and Potrero stations will each receive $70,000 for a generator, fire hose nozzles, and turnouts. The Jacumba station will obtain $14,500 for a generator, fire hose nozzles, and turnouts.
     The Dulzura station will be given $34,000 for fire hose nozzles and turnouts, and the Harbison Canyon, Dehesa, and Deerhorn Valley stations will each have $20,000 for fire hose nozzles and turnouts.
     The Lake Morena, Potrero, Dulzura, and Jacumba grants were derived from the CDBG set-aside while the Harbison Canyon, Dehesa, and Deerhorn Valley awards were funded through the trust fund.
     The trust fund will also provide the Pine Valley Fire Protection District with $20,000 for station improvements, the Mount Laguna Volunteer Fire Department with $6,349 for an air conditioning unit, and Campo Fire and Rescue with $3,129 for self-contained breathing apparatus.

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