Congresswoman Luz Rivas presented $968,000 in federal funding to the County of Los Angeles Fire Department (LACoFD) for the department’s Pacoima Warehouse Renovation project, to modernize the facility with renovations and improvements that support emergency response operations.
“Strong emergency response begins long before firefighters arrive,” said Rivas, who represents the Northeast San Fernando Valley. “It starts by making sure that they have the equipment, supplies and infrastructure that they need to respond quickly when disaster strikes. As we saw with last year’s wildfires, emergencies can happen at any moment and spread rapidly. This is why investing in emergency preparedness and strengthening our public safety infrastructure is so important.
“The Pacoima warehouse serves more than 300 LA County Fire Department locations, making it a vital part of our region’s emergency response system,” added Rivas, speaking alongside LA County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath and LACoFD Chief Anthony C. Marrone at the department’s Urban Search and Rescue Warehouse, adjacent to Whiteman Airport in Pacoima.
The warehouse also stores specialized urban search and rescue equipment that is used for critical incidents and humanitarian response efforts, locally, nationwide and abroad.
Members of the USA-2 Urban Search and Rescue team were welcomed home by loved ones at this same location, after completing an 11-day post-earthquake mission in Venezuela.
“We stood here to welcome home USA-2, following their humanitarian mission,” said Horvath. “They are a team that is second to none. … I am so proud of this team, the excellent service that they deliver, the expertise that they bring to their missions.”
Horvath also thanked Rivas for securing nearly $1 million in funding that LACoFD will “use to take care of people, not only here in the U.S., but, as you have heard, from all around the world.”
“We know the specialized equipment housed here helps our firefighters respond when every second matters,” said Horvath. “Today’s investment will create critical … upgrades to this facility, so our firefighters [and] our paramedics can access the equipment they need faster, more efficiently and especially when lives depend on it.”
Marrone stressed the significance of the funding for his department, which he said had been working “under the constraints of an aging and outdated supply warehouse” for many years.
“[This warehouse] has served us well, but simply cannot meet the demands of modern service,” explained Marrone. “Our personnel that deliver equipment supplies to our firefighters and paramedics across the county deserve a safe, efficient and modern logistics hub to operate from.”
Marrone thanked both Rivas and Horvath for “being champions of our first responders” and for helping “deliver this win.”
The LACoFD funding is part of the nearly $15 million in federal funding that Rivas secured for her district for the current fiscal year.