Two new hires bring Newark fire closer to fully staffed
The addition of two new firefighters through a recent swearing in ceremony morning brought Newark Division of Fire closer to fully staffed.
According to Deputy Chief Brandon Metzger, the division is authorized for 84 staff members. On Monday, the agency swore in newest members, Brandon Bynorth and Cody Skeese, who will undergo a two-week period of orientation before hitting the streets, bringing the agency to 83.
At the end of 2019, Metzger said the agency had 76 personnel, a number that doesn't show whether the division was in the process of hiring additional staff. Over that calendar year, Metzger said they hired two individuals and lost six.
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Last year, they hired 13 and lost 7. At the year's end, they had 81 personnel.
The division anticipates being at 81 by the end of December, recording four new hires and five individuals that left the department.
Because of the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response, or SAFER, grant the city of Newark received, Fire Chief Patrick Connor explained their agency is required to maintain a certain staffing level through each grant cycle, so when they lose someone whether that's through retirement or to another community, the city must replace them.
"With retirements and firefighters that may leave to go home to be a firefighter in their community - or whatever the scenario may be - creates a void for us," Connor said. "Trying to staff four fire stations right now when someone is off or gone, we staff that through overtime. The overtime is necessary to maintain those daily staffing limits."
According to the agency, Newark fire has paid $530,558 in overtime costs so far this year, compared to $305,081 in 2020 and $244,163 the previous year.
In addition to seeing overtime costs trending, the agency also continues to see an increase in its call volumes. This year, Metzger said they've seen a 10-12% daily increase compared to the previous year. Connor added their calls for service are expected to be over 12,000 by the end of 2021.
Last year, Metzger said they received 11,419 calls for service and 11,353 calls the year prior.
Among some challenges faced by Newark fire, like other public service departments, is finding qualified candidates to fill their positions, and competing with larger departments who are able to pay more. Connor is leaving Newark to become assistant fire chief in Plain Township in January.
According to Connor, the agency regularly discusses staffing needs with the city's administration. He said the city has been making progress over the past seven years, noting the SAFER grants have alleviated some stress on the city's budget.
Connor said they're working to figure out the number of staffing needed to reduce overtime costs and are in the process of evaluating their data with the first year of the new station on Sharon Valley Road. He also noted the division doesn't want to ever have too many firefighters and face layoffs later in the future.
According to Newark Police Chief Erik McKee, the agency is currently staffed at 69 officers, and will be down another two officers by the beginning of January due to retirements and promotions. McKee said the agency is authorized to have 73 officers.
"We have a current hiring posting out however the current participation rate in this testing process is not very good," he said. "We currently have 17 people who have taken the test and submitted their scores so far...Our previous test had almost 60 candidates on the list."
McKee said their calls for service were at 39,792 in 2019, 39,446 in 2020 and as of Friday evening, were at 35,785 for this year.
This article originally appeared on Newark Advocate: Two new hires bring Newark fire closer to fully staffed
