Logo courtesy of South Placer Fire District

GRANITE BAY/LOOMIS, CA (MPG) – While South Placer Fire District (SPFD) faces a budget shortfall due to unfunded state mandates, rising operating costs, flat funding from property taxes and local assessments that haven’t been increased since the 1980s, South Placer Fire District Leadership has been successful securing grant funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) Grant Program, and the State of California – Office of Traffic Safety, totaling nearly $800,000.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) awarded South Placer Fire District a SAFER Grant totaling $750,000 for the next three years to temporarily fund three new positions. This funding allows South Placer Fire District the ability to bring all engine companies to 3-person staffing for the three-year term of the grant. After the third year, South Placer Fire District will be 100 percent responsible for the three positions.

“It’s wonderful to receive these desperately needed funds,” said South Placer Fire District Fire Chief Darin Snedeker. “Our District, like so many here in Placer County and across the State, faces huge funding challenges due to stagnant resources and rising costs. The grant funds are not permanent; they are a temporary fix that helps keep our residents and first responders safe, for the time being. Without a permanent funding solution in place, the South Placer Fire District Board and Leadership remain committed to seeking grant funding and balancing fiscally conservative operations while exploring permanent funding solutions.”

The California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) awarded South Placer Fire District a $50,000 grant to purchase and implement the HAAS Alert's Safety Cloud®, a public safety solution that delivers real-time digital alerts to drivers when emergency vehicles are approaching or working on scene. This life-saving technology provides drivers with crucial extra warning time, which reduces the risk of secondary crashes from bottlenecks following an initial crash. Safety Cloud delivers safety alerts to drivers through navigation apps (automatic warnings appear in Waze and Apple Maps) and on vehicle dashboards with built-in alerts for 2018 and newer Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, and RAM vehicles, plus 2024 and newer Volkswagen vehicles

“In order to reopen stations, attract, retain and train fire personnel, purchase modern equipment, upgrade facilities and deliver the responses times and care our community deserves, we will need to find a permanent funding solution,” said Chief Snedeker. “This is wonderful, but it’s just a Band-Aid.”