The Oakland Fire Department will hire 35 new firefighters this year under a $27.4 million federal grant, Chief Reginald Freeman said Tuesday.
The grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency is intended to improve or restore staffing and deployment capabilities, the department said in a statement.
"This award will give us some much-needed fiscal relief over the next three years as we continue working to get our staffing capacity to appropriate levels," Freeman said.
The department has roughly 560 firefighters currently. That number should be closer to 700.
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"We've been short-staffed for literally 10 to 12 years," Freeman said.
The grant will pay for salary and fringe benefits for the 35 firefighters for three years.
A class of 32 graduated from the department's lateral fire academy on May 5, with plans for a class of 40 new recruits starting in the fall, the department said.
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As Oakland continues to face budget cuts, Freeman said the extra money is necessary to ensure the department has enough firefighters to respond to emergencies.
"This is going to help them be able to go home," he said. "We have firefighters that work anywhere between eight to 14 days in a row because we are so short-staffed."
The extra funds are not only expected to address the physical needs of the city but the mental health of the first responders protecting it.
"We have a number, an increase of members going to alcohol or drugs to cope," Freeman said. "We have more firefighters in the United States that die by suicide than die by executing their duties and responsibilities on the fire ground. It is truly a crisis."
