SAN JOSE, CA (Dec. 16, 2019) -- California Water Service (Cal Water) today announced the 10 winners of its first-ever Firefighter Grant Program, created this year to support the needs of fire departments in the utility’s service areas. Due to the significant interest in the program, Cal Water increased its original $60,000 in grant funds to award a total of almost $160,000 to these departments.
The 2019 grants were awarded to the following departments based on need for equipment to protect life and property of citizens or firefighters:
- San Mateo Consolidated Fire Department for one mile of large-diameter fire hose
- Marysville Fire Department for a medium- and large-diameter replacement fire hose on one fire engine
- King City Volunteer Fire Department to replace turnouts (personal protective equipment, or PPE)
- Montebello Fire Department for turnouts
- Butte County Fire Department for a hydraulic emergency ram
- Chico Fire Department for an unmanned aircraft system to assist in detections for search and rescue, and fire hot spots
- Stockton Fire Department for particulate barrier hoods for its firefighters
- San Mateo County Fire Department for 25 wildland rescue helmets
- North Monterey County Fire Protection District for PPE specific to nighttime, fire, and Jaws of Life rescue operations
- South San Francisco Fire Department for individual and shared PPE to support 12 rescue swimmers
“Part of our focus day in and day out is to ensure we have reliable water supplies for firefighters to protect our communities in an emergency, and by supporting those who risk their own lives to protect ours through this grant program, we can further live our purpose to improve the quality of life in the communities we serve,” said Martin A. Kropelnicki, President and CEO. “I am pleased that so many fire departments in our service areas wanted to participate in our first Firefighter Grant Program, and look forward to expanding the program in the coming years.”
Cal Water will host dedication ceremonies with the winning fire departments after the equipment has been purchased.
California Water Service serves about 2 million people through 486,900 service connections in California. The utility has provided water service in the state since 1926. Additional information may be obtained online at www.calwater.com.
