Madison fire chief says changes may be needed to hire, retain personnel
Madison Township Fire Chief Ken Justus says department hiring practices may need to change if the township wants to continue to hire and retain qualified firefighters. Justus also indicated during the township trustees’ regular meeting on Tuesday that the board may have to consider raising salaries to keep personnel from leaving.
The chief’s comments came as the board accepted the resignation of Jody Erickson as a full-time firefighter, effective Jan. 28. Erickson has accepted a full-time position at the Ashland Fire Department but will remain at Madison in a part-time status.
Erickson is one of a number of Madison firefighters who have left over the past year to go to Mansfield, Shelby or fire departments in other communities. That prompted township resident Tim Goff to ask during a public comment session if Madison’s pay is competitive with firefighter wages in Ashland.
“Not even close,” Justus quickly responded. “I am going to do a survey to see, but I think we may be the lowest paid in the county right now.”
Justus said the issue is not necessarily just pay but a lack of people interested in going into the firefighting profession. He said he’s had conversations with people who said that when Mansfield had an opening for a firefighter position, 200 people would apply to take the qualification test.
“There is a survey done by the state fire marshal’s office that found out that in the last five years in the state of Ohio we have lost 45% of the fire and EMS providers,” Justus said. “There’s just not people out there who have the certifications and the training right now, so what’s happening is departments are putting out requests for people to work jobs and there’s nobody to work.”
Justus said it is his understanding that Mansfield recently hired seven people who have no paramedic school and no training and will have to be sent to school for “everything” starting from “the bottom up.” Compounding the issue, he added, is that basic fire school is seven or eight weeks and paramedic school lasts a full year.
”In the past, it’s been that the people who come and apply for jobs here have to have all that done before they’re hired,” Justus said. “I think as time goes on we’re going to have to reinvent ourselves because there are not people out there who are certified.”
Trustee Cathy Swank said that when she took her firefighter training in 1999-2000, Madison had its own school and charged $3,000 including books and tuition and the fire department paid for it. Now, she said she recently saw that one school is charging $10,000.
Justus was asked how the Madison Township Fire Department hires new firefighters under current conditions. He said the department has opened up to lateral hiring from other departments, which means a firefighter is credited with the same years of service at the same pay grade and gets the same vacation time and longevity when they come in.
“Realistically what we’re doing is we’re stealing from each other,” Justus said. “Shelby took three of ours so we’re going to take transfers from somewhere else. That’s where we are.”
Justus also pointed out that it’s up to the firefighters union and trustees to work out salary issues. Swank noted that full negotiations will not be held until late this year.
Fire department seeks grants
During his administrative report, Justus said he has contracted for a dashboard software system that allows him to display information such as call information, weather, road cameras, the dispatch system and scheduling software on a digital display board in each station. The cost is $1,378 per year for the subscription, the Google Drive hardware, yearly programming and interfaces with other software and a one-time set up fee of $995.
Justus also reported that he recently applied for three grants including:
$2,453 from the FM Global Fire Prevention Foundation for fire investment equipment and materials.
$10,800 from the state fire marshal’s office for four sets of turnout gear.
$19,855 from the Firehouse Subs Foundation to replace a 35-year-old extraction air bag and purchase rescue struts.
Justus notified the trustees that Engine 72 has been taken out of service because it was unable to maintain sufficient air pressure to operate the horn and brakes and has been taken to Ontario for repairs.
Following an executive session at the end of their meeting, trustees voted to convert the recent hiring of firefighter Matthew Sandmann to a lateral hire and promoted Rodney Lambert from lieutenant to captain, effective Feb. 11.
This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Madison Township Fire Chief Ken Justus dealing with staffing issues
