The Bremerton Fire Department is hiring three new firefighters with help from a FEMA grant, bringing the total number of firefighters on duty at any given time from 13 to 14.

Fire Chief David Schmitt said an additional staff member will be placed on the department’s ladder truck, making it a three-person truck.

“It’s like a giant tool box,” he said. “It takes a lot of staffpower to get the job done.”

The grant, through FEMA’s Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response program, or SAFER, will provide $535,171 in funds to the county over three years. The funding will cover 75 percent of the cost of the new hires in years one and two, and 35 percent in year three.

The grant program was established by FEMA to “enhance local fire departments’ abilities to comply with staffing, response” and other standards established by federal guidelines.

According to National Fire Prevention codes and standards, 14 staff members is the minimum required on scene when responding to a first alarm fire.

“FEMA looked at this,” Schmitt said. “It’ll now give us 14 on scene.”

The fire department applied for the grant in April and was notified it would be receiving funds recently. On Wednesday, the city council unanimously supported a motion to accept the funding.

“We’ve been waiting on this since April,” councilor Tony Hillman said. “We’ve talked about it quite a bit – and I think it makes a lot of sense.”

Schmitt said the department is currently reviewing 125 applications. The firefighters are expected to be hired in time for fire academy in January, and they should be ready for active duty by March.