Happy holidays — you’re laid off!

Firefighters Alex Sharpe, left, Dave Yolinsky, Greg Kavazanjian, Brian Olson, and John Innella were informed last week that they would be laid off on Jan. 1.

Less than 24 hours after he criticized city officials at last week’s City Council meeting over the planned layoffs of five firefighters on Jan. 1, firefighter Dave Yolinsky received word that he was among those being let go.

“I was actually running some errands and stopped at the firehouse and got the letter from upstairs,” Yolinsky, 29, recounted. “It was definitely disappointing, but we already had a feeling that the city had made a final decision.”

The layoffs come after a two-year, $910,530 federal grant — the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response, or SAFER, program grant — that enabled the department to rehire five members two years ago came to an end. City officials insist that the Long Beach Professional Firefighters Local 287, the union that represents the city’s career firefighters, was aware that funding would run out. The city said that the application period for a new grant did not open this year.

The firefighters received their notices on Dec. 17, a day after a heated council meeting at which union leaders and their supporters locked horns with city officials over the layoffs, which the city informed Local 287 about on Dec. 1.

“Two years ago, I, along with your union president, signed a memorandum of understanding wherein it clearly stated that the city could not guarantee retention of the five grant-funded firefighter positions, should the grant proceeds terminate,” City Manager Jack Schnirman wrote in the letter to the firefighters, a copy of which was obtained by the Herald. “The foreseeable nature of this day, however, makes my job no easier. On behalf of the city, we wish again to express our regrets that it is not possible to renew the SAFER grant at this time.”

The city announced which firefighters would be let go just last week. For Yolinsky, who said he joined the department five and a half years ago to give back to his community, the letter was devastating. Firefighters John Innella, Greg Kavazanjian, Brian Olson and Alex Sharpe were also told they were being let go.