Firefighter recruitment numbers are at a low nationwide
Gilmer County Fire Rescue (GCFR) is 12 firefighters short.
“It’s been trending down ever since Covid,” Chief Sam West said.
Being understaffed by 12 isn’t a safety issue and won’t affect GCFR response times, he said.
It does mean that current firefighters have to work longer hours to make sure the county gets covered. That’s something the department would like to change.
“Our workforce here has nothing to do with bad work conditions or poor management conditions or anything like that,” West said.
Right now, there’s a national shortage of firefighters, he said.
According to Firefighter Nation, a firefighter advocacy website, there are fewer people today willing to undergo extensive training to become a firefighter. In addition, current firefighters are aging out of the profession.
“You don’t find many departments that don’t have manpower problems right now,” West said.
The more firefighters the county has, the better the service it can provide.
“Our goal is to get new and more equipment and more people to operate it, so we can continue to give the citizens service that they deserve,” West said.
For counties, these realities have triggered a competition to provide the few potential firefighters with salaries, benefits and other attractions, West said.
Every few years, counties must give firefighters more, or they risk falling behind.
“It never stops,” he said. “It’s a very competitive business.”
The Board of Commissioners is making “great strides” in offering firefighters competitive pay, West said.
Board of Commissioners Chair Charlie Paris said that commissioners have a plan to attract more firefighters.
First, the board will increase salaries, he said. The amount has not yet been determined.
The county is considering a new retirement plan for firefighters. The county will contribute $1 for every dollar firefighters put into their retirement accounts, up to 5 percent. The county will also put 3 percent of a firefighter’s salary into retirement accounts automatically in this new plan.
The previous plan had the county contribute $.25 for every dollar up to 5 percent and had no automatic provision.
“They’ll be two big improvements to retirement,” Paris said. “We’re just wanting to get good, qualified people and offer an environment that will allow us to retain them.”