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Fremont celebrates new firefighters, $2M truck
Fremont Fire Department has been planning for a new truck for several decades, and on Tuesday, they finally celebrated the addition of the city's 14th fire vehicle and new firefighters to staff it. This comes as local Congressman Eric Swalwell announced a bill aimed at increasing FEMA disaster prevention funds.
OAKLAND, Calif. - At a time when many cities are cutting their fire department budgets, the city of Fremont gathered on Tuesday to celebrate a budget battle victory, adding a new fire truck and firefighters to the department.
"It is my honor and privilege to put truck 56 in service," Fire Chief Zoraida Diaz said on the radio to the dispatcher.
New equipment
Why you should care:
Diaz says the new truck came after 20 years of planning. The fire truck cost about $2-million, and the department worked with the city to get additional funds for staffing.
"The city granted us another million and a half to recruit and hire for the opening the 14th company. 9 personnel," Chief Diaz said.
The move comes as many people worry about fire response and preparedness as flames tear through parts of Los Angeles.
What they're saying:
"We have to make bigger investments to prevent the next natural disaster," Rep. Eric Swalwell, a Democrat from Castro Valley said.
Swalwell met with Fremont officials and explained a new bill he had introduced.
"My bill would increase the amount of money FEMA has to put into preventative measures," Swalwell said. "Whether it's having more water resources to fight fires, having more firefighters stationed in areas that are most vulnerable."
The bill also would require FEMA to create a central federal database for agencies to share information on disaster response. It also would create a community outreach program to help low-income communities access federal grants.
It would require FEMA to collect and post demographic data on the impact of natural disasters and federal recovery efforts to better allocate and track resources and to analyze disaster spending to see what could have been saved by improved pre-disaster mitigation.
"This should be bipartisan. This could affect any area in the country. Republican district. Democratic district," Swalwell said.
Fremont itself is already doing what many cities are considering.
"We have a hillside initiative, so there's no development near the hills," Fremont Mayor Raj Salwan said. "In Fremont, we're trying to reduce urban sprawl. We're trying to limit it to our key corridors," Salwan said. "Areas away from the hills, away from the brush fires...a much safer experience, and we can get more density in these places. All future development will be near the transit corridors."