Oceanside Fire Department creates hand crews for hire Brush clearing program seen as training pipeline for new firefighters Firefighters battle a 3-acre brush fire near the Oceanside Municipal Airport property on July 5, 2025. Oceanside’s Fire Department has started a program for part-time hand crews that it will share with agencies throughout the region to clear brush for fire prevention and, in some cases, could help fight wildfires. The department added a new job classification called “fuels crew member” that the Oceanside City Council approved last year to assist with fire prevention. The job is also a way to train recruits for full-time fire department careers. The City Council authorized $300,000 in seed money for the program from Measure X, Oceanside’s voter-approved temporary sales tax. It also received a $100,000 grant from San Diego County’s Neighborhood Reinvestment Program and $35,000 from the San Diego Regional Fire Foundation. “The goal is to bill partner agencies for services rendered,” said Deputy Fire Chief Jess Specht in a presentation March 25 to the City Council. “Cost recovery will be a big way for this to become a self-sustaining entity.” The City Council unanimously approved a resolution at the meeting to allow the Fire Department to use the crews in Oceanside and with other agencies in the region on a cost-recovery basis, along with a chart of fees for the various services. “Right now they are what’s called a fuels mitigation crew, where we can go out and do brush abatement, brush clearance, creating defensible space around city properties,” Specht said. “The goal is to transition them through training … to be able to respond to fires.” Camp Pendleton and agencies in Valley Center and Vista have expressed interest in the service, Specht said. The crews also could work for agencies such as Oceanside’s water district that need brush cleared. The city had about 400 applications for 18 openings in the program, he said. The crew will not be used to fight active fires until it has more training. Councilmember Eric Joyce called it an innovative program that could become “a pipeline to getting people into the fire service.” “You have this program … and all of these people want to give you money for it, so that’s a really good sign,” Joyce said. Cost recovery will occur through project-based service agreements that reimburse the Fire Department for personnel, administrative and equipment costs associated with providing the service, states a city report. Hourly rates on the schedule range from $19.15 for individual mutual aid crew members to $111.80 for a battalion chief, it states, which is the city’s approved pay rate for the positions. There’s also an administrative fee of 25.93%.San Diego loses population as immigration nosedives. What are the consequences? Its schools are falling apart, and voters won’t pass a bond. Could a little-used tactic help this district?Santee fire that prompted evacuations at shopping center charred 5 acres ‘Character of our community is diminished.’ Borrego Springs group asks for short-term rental regulationsWeak Pacific storm expected to largely bypass San Diego County this week