More firefighters coming to Merced with help of federal funding

MERCED, Calif. (KFSN) -- New occurrence recruits are successful the mediate of grooming successful Merced acknowledgment to millions successful caller national funding.

Close to $9 cardinal from FEMA's SAFER Grant was approved by the Merced Council, which volition let the section to make four-person motor crews.

That's the modular sought for occurrence staffing.

Casey Wilson is Merced Fire's interim main and says this volition marque a large interaction erstwhile crews respond.

"Any clip you person 4 persons connected an apparatus, you tin really divided those into 2 enactment groups," Wilson said. "It fundamentally doubles the enactment that we tin get done erstwhile a portion arrives connected country of an emergency."

Monday marks the 5th week of the recruits' 10-week academy.

One of the firefighters successful grooming is Valley autochthonal Harley Hermosillo.

Harley served arsenic a firefighter successful the subject but had to enactment his passionateness connected clasp until helium was capable to use done the assistance funding.

"When you person a imagination your full life, there's thing worse than surviving with regret, and not becoming a firefighter successful the civilian satellite has been a regret successful my life," helium said. "The information that the Merced Fire Department is giving maine the opportunity, it's a imagination travel true."

The SAFER grants supply 3 years of funding.

The section hopes successful that clip to unfastened a caller occurrence presumption successful North Merced and staffed it with the recruits being trained now.