Fire Chiefs Get $882,064.16 To Purchase Personal Protective Equipment For Crews

July 13, 2020

Everett Fire

Some of the most important work that keeps firefighters safe happens behind the scenes. That’s the case in this example where members of the Snohomish County Fire Chief’s Association were able to win a major grant for PPE.

Everett fared well in the grant process.

The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic within SnoCo brought many challenges to our Emergency Medical Services (EMS). The SnoCo Fire Chiefs Association (SCFCA) representing all 22 fire departments within the county acted quickly to collaborate and work efficiently to protect their workforce and continue providing EMS services to their communities. A key component in providing these services was to ensure our EMS providers were properly protected while preventing them from becoming vectors to our community members. SCFCA representatives working within the ESF-4 (Fire) section of the Snohomish County DEM, worked quickly to establish a purchasing model that would greatly assist the SCFCA’s ability to purchase necessary PPE. One of the efforts through ESF-4 to help mitigate the impact of some of the costs of the extra PPE purchases was to apply for FEMA’s Assistance to Firefighters 2020 – COVID-19 Supplemental Grant as a regional group. On June 18, 2020, SCFCA was awarded a grant for $882,064.16 to put towards the cost of purchasing PPE. The funding is part of the Coronavirus Aid Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act through FEMA Assistance for Firefighters Grant Program (AFGP). Based on a burn rate formula of PPE for each agency, a percentage of the grant represents direct savings to our citizens. For Everett, this savings is approximately $220,000.

There were many who played key roles on this project to make it a county-wide success to include our very own, Captain Jeff Alford. He has been diligently working at the County Coordination Center in ESF-4 since the beginning of this pandemic, not only as a representative for Everett Fire but as a representative for all of the fire agencies in Snohomish County.

To read about the purchasing model that the SCFCA agreed to in an effort to respond for the greater good of our county-wide community, click on this link https://bit.ly/38SEfv2.



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