NEWARK, OH (WCMH)–In the fire service, it is a numbers game. Using the manpower you have, to try and get to the fire or EMS call as quickly as you can is always the plan.
When your firefighter numbers aren’t where you want them to be, but the calls are rolling in daily, the response numbers might not be where a fire chief wants them to be.
Newark Fire is about to get some new blood on the force with a federal grant totaling more than $450,000 being approved for the city.
“It is very competitive, you have to have communication with the federal government, where the money will go, and how we spend it,” Chief Patrick Connor said.
This money, this time will go towards the hiring of 3 new firefighters for the city of Newark.
“We will be able to make an impact with 3 people,” Chief Connor said.
In just the last 6 years, thanks to hundreds of thousands of federal grant dollars, the city of Newark has been able to add 9 new firefighters to the force.
Grant writing has become such an important component to the overall health of a city, after budget cuts at state and local levels left many municipalities wondering where the money would come from to add first responder jobs.
“Instead of sitting there and crying let’s get it back, let’s go and be aggressive and get additional dollars,” Mayor Jeff Hall said.
As part of the agreement, the city must keep the firefighters on the force after the 2 year federal dollars run out.