$950K grant helps Calif. FD replace a nearly 40-year-old rescue

Woodbridge Fire District/Facebook

By Wes Bowers
Lodi News-Sentinel

WOODBRIDGE, Calif. — Woodbridge Fire District has secured funding to help secure a new vehicle.

The district was awarded a $952,380.95 grant through the Assistance to Firefighter Grants Program Friday, which will be used to purchase of a new regional response heavy-duty rescue fire apparatus.

The vehicle will replace the district’s current 1987 apparatus which Chief Darin Downey said has exceeded its service life.

“The new apparatus will enhance our capabilities, provide reliability and provide increased safety for our firefighters,” he said. “It will also be equipped with a large generator and a cascade air system used to fill our self-contained breathing apparatus while on scene. And it will strengthen our commitment to providing the highest level of service to the residents of our district and those who enter.”

Once in service, the new rescue fire apparatus will primarily respond out of the district’s Station 1 at 400 E. Augusta St. in Woodbridge as a support vehicle to a variety of incidents including vehicle accidents, hazardous material spills, water rescues, confined space rescues and entrapments, among others.

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It will also respond out of the district’s other three stations at 2691 East Armstrong Road, 25440 N. Eunice Ave., and 6365 Capital Ave.

Not only will it respond to incidents in the district’s coverage area, Downey said, but it will also provide aid to Thornton and River Delta fire districts.

Rep. Josh Harder provided a letter of support for the grant, Downey said, and the vehicle, manufactured by Pierce Manufacturing, will be purchased by Golden State Fire Apparatus.

Established in 2001, the AFG program is focused on meeting the needs of both fire departments and non-affiliated emergency medical service organizations.

It provides funding for equipment, protective gear, emergency vehicles, training and other resources necessary for emergency response incidents. This is the second vehicle the district has acquired with outside funding this year. In June, the district was able to purchase a custom-built M3 Monohull fire and rescue boat built by Moose Boats, LLC with $737,000 in American Rescue Plan Act funding from the San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors.

The craft will primarily serve the San Joaquin Delta north of the San Joaquin River and provide mutual aid to other fire agencies.

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