The Monterey Park Fire Department announced receipt of a grant award for $92,370 from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Department of Homeland Security. This grant award has come at a time when the City of Monterey Park has been facing severe budgetary issues and the need to replace the Fire Department’s current cache of VHF platform radios were critical for the compliance of the Federal Communications Commission’s narrow-banding mandate and age old equipment maintenance concerns. The Fire Department first received notification of this award by Congressman Adam Schiff and today by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

Staff applied for grant funding to purchase these radios through several grant sources and budget requests and was becoming concerned with the FCC’s deadline to meet the narrow-banding requirement in 2013. This award is the result of the Fire Department’s application to the Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program in l\/lay 2010 for a total project cost of $115,462, which includes an 80/20 funding match requirement between the Federal Government and City funds. Acting Fire Chief James Birrell, said he was “extremely pleased to learn the Fire Department can now replace its cache of VHF radios, which are more than 10 years old and no longer supported by the manufacturer. This grant enables the Fire Department to meet the FCC mandate, and more importantly, ensure communication with the police department and other emergency response and public safety agencies in the region while on mutual aid and strike team deployments.”

For further details, contact Battalion Chief l\/lark Khail, Emergency Operations Division at (626) 307-1270.