Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Urban Search And Rescue topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Lawmakers hear appeal to provide recurring funding for Vermont Urban Search and Rescue team
Summary
Fire chiefs and mutual-aid leaders told the Senate Appropriations Committee that Vermont's Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) team lacks a stable operating budget and adequate facilities, urging recurring appropriations to sustain deployments that rescued more than 267 people in the past 18 months.
David DiBiase, identified in the hearing as the fire chief for the City of Virginia and second vice president of the Vermont State Firefighters Association, told the Senate Appropriations Committee on March 28 that Vermont's Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) team needs recurring state funding to continue operations and upgrade facilities.
The USAR team is roughly 90 members strong and includes firefighters, EMTs, doctors, engineers, and canine handlers, DiBiase said. The program currently has one full-time staff member on the state payroll through the Department of Public Safety, Division of Fire Safety; most members are part-time and activate for deployments, training and mutual aid. DiBiase said the team conducted about 20 deployments in a typical year and that over 267 Vermonters were rescued by the USAR team during the last 18 months.
Why it matters: Committee members were told the team fills capabilities Vermont does not otherwise have at the state level ' high-angle rope rescue, swift-water response, structural collapse shoring and technical search ' and often predeploys resources ahead of floods and storms to reduce response time. Presenters warned that without a baseline appropriation the team relies on a patchwork of one-time grants, local funds and occasional use of HAZMAT tier-2 funds, and that reliance is now jeopardizing training and readiness.
DiBiase said the team's current home is a former VTrans facility in Colchester shared with other state groups and that the state-owned structure lacks basic amenities for a modern readiness and training center. "There's no place to sleep," DiBiase said. "There's no training room. There's no parking. The bathrooms are not one of the nicer places I've ever visited, but that's what they've got today." He said state-owned equipment stored there is valuable and that replacing it would be difficult if it were lost to fire or other damage.
Deputy Chief Joseph Alsgren of the City of Barre, who identified himself as president of Capital Fire Mutual Aid, said USAR deployments are labor intensive and often last "about a week to two weeks," and that the team responded 22 times in 2024. "These relationships are reciprocal in nature," Alsgren said, adding that Vermont both sends and receives assistance in multi-state events.
Presenters described the program's current funding mix: federal reimbursements for some deployments, occasional federal and state homeland security grants, and ad-hoc use of HAZMAT-specific funds. DiBiase said that earlier one-time appropriations (testimony referenced a prior $750,000 one-time appropriation) helped but did not establish an ongoing baseline. The program manager's salary is currently paid from grants, presenters said.
Committee members asked about the cost of leasing a workable facility. Testimony gave a range for lease estimates encountered during site searches; presenters described a low-end lease estimate in the low hundreds of thousands per year and said the least-cost proposals they reviewed ran in the "two hundred something thousand" to roughly "four hundred thousand" range, depending on size and shared use. Presenters cautioned that available state-owned options like an AOT central garage might be too distant from many team members.
Presenters also described operational consequences from unstable funding: canceled training, difficulty guaranteeing equipment maintenance, and the risk of relying on out-of-state or federal teams when Vermont needs immediate response. DiBiase asked the committee for recurring funding or statutory language to ensure Department of Public Safety submits and retains a baseline appropriation for USAR.
No formal motion or vote on an appropriation was recorded during the session. Committee staff said USAR-related funding would be considered within the public safety budget and in ongoing budget deliberations.
Ending: The committee heard the request and asked follow-up questions; presenters said they would provide additional information to staff. If the committee or legislature chooses to act, the appropriation would be routed through the Department of Public Safety in the FY26 budget process.
