Bodega Bay fire taps federal grant to replace aging water tender

The struggling Bodega Bay Fire Protection District has won a $268,000 federal grant to replace an aging water tender that has been deemed unsafe and taken out of service, fire personnel said.

The grant was announced Friday and is part of the 2014 round of awards to be distributed through the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Assistance to Firefighters program, which administers $680 million in federally appropriated funds for fire and emergency management agencies around the country.

The district still must come up with about $13,396 to meet its 5 percent match obligation, fire Capt. Justin Fox said.

District Board Vice President Charlie Bone said it wasn’t clear where the board would find those dollars but vowed to ensure it happened.

“I have all the confidence in the world that we will find the money, generate the money, or some way come up with the money,” Bone said. “You can’t let that kind of opportunity get away.”

Bodega Bay Fire, which is funded primarily by a shrinking population of under 1,100 residents within the boundaries of its 34-square-mile district, provides fire and emergency medical service to residents and thousands of visitors to the Sonoma Coast and many others within its 300-square-mile ambulance service area, agency personnel said.

But it is drawing down reserve funds to maintain operations and has no vehicle replacement fund, officials said.

The department resorted to crowd-funding and fundraising events to help offset the cost of a $179,601 ambulance it bought last winter - about half of it covered by grants from Sonoma County hotel bed tax revenue.

The new water tender will replace a 1976 Ford water tender the agency bought secondhand from the Glen Ellen Fire Protection District 10 years ago, Fox said.

It will include a larger pump than most tenders and a hose for tactical fire work, as well as compartments to store medical equipment that will permit department members to respond to a variety of emergency calls, thus extending the life of the primary fire engine, Fox said.

“We’re very excited that we were able to secure the grant,” Bone said.

You can reach Staff Writer Mary Callahan at 521-5249 or mary.callahan@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @MaryCallahanB.