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Oceanside authorizes fuels hand crew to do regional mitigation work and recover costs
Summary
Council authorized the Fire Department to enter into mutual‑aid or similar agreements enabling a new fuels mitigation hand crew to perform vegetation management for other agencies on a cost‑recovery basis; the program was seeded with Measure X and grant funds.
The Oceanside City Council authorized the Fire Department to enter into mutual‑aid and similar agreements that will allow a newly formed fuels hand crew to perform vegetation and fuels‑management work for other agencies on a cost‑recovery basis.
Deputy Fire Chief Jessine Speck described the program, which the council created as a fuels‑crew classification in November 2025 and seeded with approximately $300,000 in Measure X funds. The department also reported receiving $100,000 from Supervisor Jim Desmond’s neighborhood rehabilitation program grant and $35,000 from the San Diego Regional Fire Foundation to buy equipment and PPE.
“The hand crew will perform brush mitigation, vegetation clearance, and will help improve wildfire resilience both in and out of the city,” Speck said, and added the department intends to pursue state certification so crews can respond to wildfire incidents regionally and receive mutual‑aid reimbursements under the statewide master mutual‑aid agreement.
Council adopted the resolution and the associated fee schedule to enable the department to accept reimbursable work and to pursue grants and other funding to help make the program self‑sustaining.
What happens next: staff will continue to seek grants to cover startup costs, pursue certification pathways, and begin offering fuels‑management services to partner agencies while recording revenue under the adopted fee schedule.
Provenance: Topic introduced SEG 2791; adoption recorded SEG 3007.
