Federal Grant Award Summary

The City of Oakland Fire Department received a $1.378 million Project Grant award from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) through the National Urban Search and Rescue (US&R) Response System program (CFDA 97.025), effective September 1, 2025, through August 31, 2028. This funding supports the management, training, exercises, equipment procurement, and storage and maintenance operations of Oakland's specialized urban search and rescue task force, which maintains rapid-response capabilities to assist in Presidentially declared disasters and emergencies across a multi-state region. The task force conducts around-the-clock search and rescue operations in response to major incidents including earthquakes, tornadoes, floods, hurricanes, aircraft accidents, and catastrophic structural collapses.

The grant enables the Oakland Fire Department to sustain its participation in the national system of 28 US&R task forces by funding personnel management, specialized training programs, equipment readiness exercises, vehicle and equipment procurement, and facility maintenance. These services ensure the department's task force remains operational and deployable to support state and local emergency responders in locating survivors and managing recovery operations in the immediate aftermath of presidentially declared disasters affecting communities across multiple states.