And the City of Cranston will receive a $2,765,310 federal grant to hire 15 firefighters, increasing the possibility that the Fire Department will hire its first female firefighter.
Rhode Island’s congressional delegation, Providence Mayor Jorge O. Elorza and Cranston Mayor Allan W. Fung announced Wednesday that FEMA has made the grants under the SAFER program. SAFER means Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response.
Providence will receive the largest SAFER award being made this year nationally, according to U.S. Sen. Jack Reed.
Providence has seen more than 100 uniformed personnel retire over the past 18 months, because, Public Safety Commissioner Steven M. Paré said, the department had a work force that skewed older and beyond the age of retirement eligibility. A significant factor in the exodus, he acknowledged, was the controversial change in the department’s work schedule.
A SAFER grant carries the full cost of firefighters with fringe benefits for two fiscal years, after which the municipality must pick up the cost.
Providence has allocated money for an 80-person training academy, scheduled to begin in January or February. Receiving the grant creates an operating budget surplus of about $7.5 million for the 2016-2017 fiscal year because the city will not have to spend its own money initially.
On paper, the department has an authorized uniformed force of 438, is budgeted for 422 and has an actual head count of 342. Filling the 80 vacancies will bring it back up to 422.
In the 2015 calendar year, the department had 41,783 calls for service, of which 29,739 were for emergency medical services.
Cranston Fire Chief William McKenna could not be reached for comment.
The Cranston department has no members of racial or ethnic minority groups in its 195-member uniformed force and never had a female. A female is ranked number 18 on a hiring eligibility list, so as more retirements occur, it appears likely that her spot will be reached for hiring before the list expires and is replaced with a fresh list of recruits.
If Cranston did not land a SAFER grant, it planned to hire and train seven firefighters at its own expense. Now it can bring on 15.
Cranston has an annual average of 15,000 calls for service, according to the announcement.
Since 2005, fire departments and other first responders in Rhode Island have won more than $30 million in SAFER grants.
gsmith@providencejournal.com
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