Lake County Public Safety was recently notified that it has been awarded, pending Board approval, the Department of Homeland Security’s 2015 Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grant. The $1.7 million grant will go toward hiring 15 new Lake County Fire Rescue firefighters. “The FEMA SAFER grant will allow us to hire enough firefighters to properly staff four existing stations, open a new fire station, and add a third firefighter to some outlying stations,” said Lake County Public Safety Director John Jolliff. “These staffing changes will dramatically improve response times, increase the safety of citizens and help prevent injury to personnel.”
Thanks to the grant, Lake County is opening up a new firefighter hire list. Applicants may apply online at www.lakecountyfl.gov keyword: employment.
The federal program is a funding initiative designed to strengthen the nation’s ability to respond to fire-related hazards and improve the nation’s overall level of preparedness. The goal is to enhance the ability of recipients to attain and maintain 24-hour fire department staffing and to assure that their communities have adequate protection. The SAFER program provides approximately $340 million in competitive grants to fire departments and statewide or local volunteer firefighter support groups.
Lake County Fire Rescue became a professional fire organization in 1988. The career firefighters of Lake County Fire Rescue protect county residents and visitors in an area covering approximately 1,200 square miles, with nearly 70,000 residences and up to 2,000 commercial properties. Fire Rescue serves both rural and urban areas through its 25 fire stations, with Advanced Life Support (ALS) provided at 17 of the stations. The department responded to 21,679 calls for service in 2015.
