Homeland Security money improving area fire agencies

By: JO MORELAND - Staff Writer | Sunday, November 20, 2005 9:07 PM PST ∞

NORTH COUNTY ----- Area fire agencies have used millions of tax dollars funneled through the U.S. Department of Homeland Security since 2002 to buy everything from state-of-the-art computer mapping software to shiny new fire trucks.

And fire officials said this month that the grants are starting to close the equipment and training gaps between the region's fire departments, making them better prepared for daily emergencies as well as terrorism.

"It's allowing us to upgrade our response capability for our daily jobs," said Oceanside fire Capt. Joe Urban. "There's a lot of stuff out there that the public will never see, and hopefully we'll never have to use."

The countywide allocations for Homeland Security grants, including Law Enforcement Terrorism Prevention Program grants, for 2003, 2004 and 2005 total $27,563,679, according to the San Diego County Office of Emergency Services.

That does not include money from other Homeland Security agencies, including grants provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. North County fire agencies have been using those sources as well.

In this area, the Office of Emergency Services or individual fire departments and districts listed federal grant totals for Oceanside as $919,362 (since 2002); Encinitas, $234,144; Deer Springs, $610,121; Rancho Santa Fe, $114,960; Poway, $268,288; Valley Center, $102,000; Del Mar, $88,967; Solana Beach,$62,236; Palomar Mountain, $26,935; Elfin Forest-Harmony Grove, $54,151; San Pasqual, $107,440; Escondido, $1,006,099; Fallbrook's North County Fire, $445,336; Carlsbad, $571,497; Vista, $193,487; San Marcos, $619,613; and Ramona, $66,000.

The federal money can only be used for specified items or training, but the list has broadened to include such things as Jaws of Life rescue tools and thermal imaging cameras, officials said.

Gas masks, radiation detection pagers and chemical protection suits are now protecting North County firefighters who didn't know, in some cases, whether their departments would ever be able to provide them.

The money is also paying for additional and upgraded training.

"I've been able to train my public works department so they can act in support of (emergency) responders," said Encinitas Fire Chief Don Heiser. "Without that support money, I don't know where we'd be."

However, nothing's perfect. FEMA grants, for instance, require some matching money.

There are sometimes strings attached, as the rural Deer Springs Fire Protection District discovered when they wanted $200,000 for a major fuel break. FEMA wanted the small agency to maintain the break for more than a decade. Deer Springs withdrew their request.

Other grants have provided Deer Springs with such things as a refurbished fire engine, 800 megahertz radios and pagers, 30 new personal wildfire protection shelters, and a $234,000 brush fire truck.

"We've been considering looking into whether we can get some personnel (through grants)," said Deer Springs board President Frank Asaro.

Rancho Santa Fe fire Chief Nick Pavone said it's necessary to budget properly to get reimbursed for expenditures. Auditing requirements include providing invoices, said Mark Sanchez, Poway's public safety director.

"It's broken down line item by line item," Sanchez said.

There is no guarantee that a grant will be approved. The Valley Center Fire Protection District can't seem to get one for a fire truck in an area with significant arson activity, including the huge 2003 Paradise fire that killed two people.

"We were denied our request last year and this year," said fire Capt. Kathy Holgate. "They didn't give us a reason for it (the denial)."

San Diego County fire agencies have taken a regional three-phase approach to spending grant money. During the first phase, firefighters were equipped with protective gear and more training.

Agencies have moved into the second phase, providing mobile decontamination units around the county for such places as the Del Mar Fairgrounds, said Tom Gallup, the Encinitas Fire Department's management analyst.

During the third phase, Gallup said, grants will be used to make places more secure with better communication equipment, better security procedures and more security barriers, such as gates and fencing.

Money from the grants also has been pooled for planning and training, as well as regional technology.

Part of $800,000 in Homeland Security grant money was used to help finance the county's biggest terrorism drill to date last Tuesday at the Del Mar Fairgrounds, said David Ott, fire chief for the Del Mar and Solana Beach departments.

Homeland Security money has provided basic equipment at the volunteer departments of Palomar Mountain, Elfin Forest-Harmony Grove and San Pasqual.

The Palomar Mountain volunteers bought air packs, plus a power point projector and screen that helped them plan evacuation routes from the tall peak, which has few roads.

"The grant has brought us up to compliance (for air packs), so that we can respond with the other agencies," said fire Capt. Tamara Davis.

Elfin Forest-Harmony Grove and San Pasqual promptly bought alarm systems that alert firefighters inside department stations, said Dawn Pettijohn, an Elfin Forest fire captain who is also assistant chief of the San Pasqual agency.

Now, Pettijohn said, the firefighters get printouts of calls and no longer have to rely on sometimes unreliable pagers.

On the creative side, the Escondido Fire Department used some of its grant money to fund an emergency service coordinator's position.

The North County Fire Protection District received a grant for equipment to remove harmful diesel exhaust fumes and provide emergency standby power generators for all its stations, plus industrial washers and dryers to clean protective clothing.

Carlsbad bought tools so that firefighters can force their way into buildings during emergencies and equipment to shore up a collapsing building in order to rescue people. Poway financed an incident command trailer.

Significant expenditures for San Marcos include new computer software for the city's emergency operations center and outfitting a heavy rescue trailer.

Departments are also looking to future needs. Ramona has been putting money aside for a confined space and trench rescue trailer, said Chief Mike Vogt.

Urban said Oceanside city officials are now looking at communications equipment, such as satellite phones that would be useful when communications systems are knocked out by earthquakes, and possibly the design and location of an emergency operations center.

Contact staff writer Jo Moreland at (760) 740-3524 or jmoreland@nctimes.com.

NORTH COUNTY ----- Area fire agencies have used millions of tax dollars funneled through the U.S. Department of Homeland Security since 2002 to buy everything from state-of-the-art computer mapping software to shiny new fire trucks.

And fire officials said this month that the grants are also starting to close the equipment and training gaps between the region's fire departments, making them better prepared for daily emergencies as well as terrorism.

"It's allowing us to upgrade our response capability for our daily jobs," said Oceanside fire Capt. Joe Urban. "There's a lot of stuff out there that the public will never see, and hopefully we'll never have to use."

The countywide allocations for state Homeland Security grants, including Law Enforcement Terrorism Prevention Program grants, for 2003, 2004 and 2005 total $27,563,679, according to the San Diego County Office of Emergency Services.

That does not include money from other Homeland Security agencies, including grants provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. North County fire agencies have been using those sources as well.

In this area, the Office of Emergency Services listed grant totals for Oceanside as $919,362 (since 2002); Encinitas, $234,144; Deer Springs, almost $1 million; Rancho Santa Fe, $55,000; Poway, $268,288; Valley Center, $102,000; Del Mar, $88,967; Solana Beach,$62,236; Palomar Mountain, $26,935; Elfin Forest-Harmony Grove, $54,151; San Pasqual, $107,440; Escondido, $1,006,099; Fallbrook's North County Fire, $445,336; Carlsbad, $571,497; Vista, 193,487; San Marcos, $619,613, and Ramona, $66,000.

The federal money can only be used for specified items or training, but the list has broadened to include such things as Jaws of Life rescue tools, thermal imaging cameras and other needs, officials said.

Gas masks, radiation detection pagers and chemical protection suits are now protecting North County firefighters who didn't know, in some cases, whether their departments would ever be able to provide them.

The money is also paying for additional and upgraded training.

"I've been able to train my public works department so they can act in support of (emergency) responders," said Encinitas Fire Chief Don Heiser. "Without that support money, I don't know where we'd be."

However, nothing's perfect. FEMA grants, for instance, require some matching money.

There are sometimes strings attached, as the rural Deer Springs Fire Protection District discovered when they wanted $200,000 for a major fuel break. FEMA wanted the small agency to maintain the break for more than a decade. Deer Springs withdrew their request.

Other grants have provided Deer Springs with such things as a refurbished fire engine, 800 megahertz radios and pagers, 30 new personal wildfire protection shelters, and a $234,000 brush fire truck.

"We've been considering looking into whether we can get some personnel (through grants)," said Deer Springs board President Frank Asaro.

Rancho Santa Fe Fire Chief Nick Pavone said it's necessary to budget properly in order to get reimbursed for expenditures. Auditing requirements include providing invoices, said Mark Sanchez, Poway's public safety director.

"It's broken down line item by line item," Sanchez said.

There is no guarantee that a grant will be approved. The Valley Center Fire Protection District can't seem to get one for a fire truck in an area with significant arson activity, including the huge 2003 Paradise fire that killed two people.

"We were denied our request last year and this year," said fire Capt. Kathy Holgate. "They didn't give us a reason for it (the denial)."

San Diego County fire agencies have taken a regional three-phased approach to spending grant money. During the first phase, firefighters were equipped with protective gear and more training.

Agencies have moved into the second phase, providing mobile decontamination units around the county for such places as the Del Mar Fairgrounds, said Tom Gallup, the Encinitas Fire Department's management analyst.

During the third phase, Gallup said, grants will be used to make places more secure with better communications equipment, better security procedures, and more security barriers, such as gates and fencing.

Money from the grants also has been pooled for planning and training, as well as regional technology.

Part of $800,000 in Homeland Security grant money was used to help finance the county's biggest terrorism drill to date last Tuesday at the Del Mar Fairgrounds, said David Ott, fire chief for the Del Mar and Solana Beach departments.

Homeland Security money has provided basic equipment at the volunteer departments of Palomar Mountain, Elfin Forest-Harmony Grove, and San Pasqual.

The Palomar Mountain volunteers bought air packs, plus a power point projector and screen that helped them plan evacuation routes from the tall peak, which has few roads.

"The grant has brought us up to compliance (for air packs), so that we can respond with the other agencies," said fire Capt. Tamara Davis.

Elfin Forest-Harmony Grove and San Pasqual promptly bought alarm systems that alert firefighters inside department stations, said Dawn Pettijohn, an Elfin Forest fire captain who is also assistant chief of the San Pasqual agency.

Now, Pettijohn said, the firefighters get printouts of calls and no longer have to rely on sometimes unreliable pagers.

On the creative side, the Escondido Fire Department used some of its grant money to fund an emergency service coordinator's position.

The North County Fire Protection District paid for equipment to remove harmful diesel exhaust fumes and provide emergency standby power generators for all its stations, plus industrial washers and dryers to clean protective clothing.

Carlsbad bought tools so that firefighters can force their way into buildings during emergencies and equipment to shore up a collapsing building in order to rescue people. Poway financed an incident command trailer.

Significant expenditures for San Marcos include new computer software for the city's emergency operations center and outfitting a heavy rescue trailer.

Departments are also looking to future needs. Ramona has been putting money aside for a confined space and trench rescue trailer, said Chief Mike Vogt.

Urban said Oceanside city officials are now looking at communications equipment, such as satellite phones that would be useful when communications systems are knocked out by earthquakes, and possibly the design and location of an emergency operations center.

Contact staff writer Jo Moreland at (760) 740-3524 or jmoreland@nctimes.com.