By Kirk Ross
Staff Writer
Carrboro is not quite midway through an effort to add 15 firefighters, a move necessary to fully staff its new northern fire station. It’s been a costly effort and six new positions added in the past two years constituted a major portion of the town’s personnel cost increases.
This year, that effort continues, but thanks to a $314,262 SAFER grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency the cost to the town of bringing on the next batch of hires will drop. For the first year, the grant will pick up 90 percent of the cost of hiring three new firefighters.
The town received official notice last Friday of the grant, which it had applied for in the past but never won, said Carrboro Fire Chief Travis Crabtree. With the opening of the new station and the need to hire and train new personnel, the town had a strong case.
The grant extends over four years and will help the department spread out the cost of building up the staff. The department is anticipating moving a combination of experienced and newer officers and drivers to the Homestead Road station late in 2009.
Before being assigned a shift, new firefighters must be trained in emergency medical care, rescue, fire prevention and fire suppression.
With six firefighters of the 15 required already hired, the chief said the town’s lone fire station is starting to get crowded. “It’s getting kind of tight. We put in new lockers already. We planned ahead,†Crabtree said, “but there’s not enough room at the kitchen table.â€
The town now has 10 firefighters per shift with plans to go to 11 when the new hires are ready. Officers and drivers typically work ten 24-hour shifts each month.
Aside from tight quarters, the chief said the department is also trying to get in the training and experience to staff a two-station operation.
“A lot of folks have stepped up and taken on new responsibilities,†he said.
Carrboro Town Manager Steve Stewart said the new grant will help the town’s bottom line in the next fiscal year. But he cautioned that construction and other costs related to the new station along with continuing sidewalk construction will still make it a tough budget year.
The board of aldermen recently authorized the purchase of a new aerial fire truck for the station at a cost of $912,000.
SAFER grants are administered by FEMA’s National Preparedness Directorate in consultation with the U.S. Fire Administration. Congress appropriated $115 million for the SAFER Grant Program in 2007 to provide local fire departments with funds for recruiting and hiring firefighters. For firefighters hired under the SAFER Program, grant monies pay for a decreasing percentage of salaries and benefits over a four-year period. For the first year, the grant pays 90 percent and by the fourth year the grant share is 30 percent. The local jurisdiction takes full responsibility for the firefighters’ salaries in the fifth year.