Brainerd Fire Department feels the heat
By Aug. 1, the Brainerd Fire Department could be down 12 paid on-call firefighters.
It's an alarming number and represents decades of firefighter experience but Fire Chief Fred Underhill said people won't see a drop in the level of fire service. The fire department, he said, is still staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week by full-time firefighters.
Brainerd could be down 12 firefighters by Aug. 1 unless the city loosens its hiring freeze to allow the Brainerd Fire Department to hire more paid on-call firefighters. Seven firefighters have already resigned and another five may resign because of the economy's impact on pensions. Brainerd Dispatch/Kelly Humphrey » Purchase reprints of this photo.
What's worrying Underhill is a hiring freeze currently in effect in the city. On Monday, when four resignations were accepted, the Brainerd City Council directed staff to look at financing to replace up to six of the paid on-call firefighters.
"That's what you call working together," Underhill said. "There are a lot of cities dealing with the same issue right now and how to handle it. It's not just this city, it's the state all over with the conditions of our budget.
"We're still down, but we've been down before. When we get down five I'm not too worried but when we start getting nine or 10 that's when I start being concerned about our numbers."
"I just want to make sure we have the call coverage we need.
If we have one fire, that's fine, we'll have enough people responding. But if we have a big incident or two or three fires at once then we start taxing the limitations of the department."
Fred Underhill
Fire chief, Brainerd Fire Department
So far, there have been seven resignations representing a total of 150 years of firefighting experience. Underhill said there could be five more resignations by the end of the month. He said he's confident younger firefighters will step into leadership roles and bring new ideas to the table. There also are several firefighters with 15 to 18 years of experience who will be staying with the department.
The cost to train and equip a firefighter is about $6,500 over a two-year period, Underhill said. On Monday he told the city's Personnel and Finance Committee unless something is changed he doesn't have money in his budget to hire more volunteer firefighters.
Council member and Personnel and Finance Chairwoman Mary Koep was supportive of looking at replacing paid on-call firefighters but didn't want the city to rush into a decision until the council had firm financial numbers to look at in its budget sessions.
"We are going to have to set some priorities and if one comes up high then somebody is going to come down," Koep said.
The economy and its effect on the paid on-call firefighters' retirement pensions is the driving force behind most of the retirements, Underhill said. The pension benefit level decreased because of declining investments.
In his letter of retirement, Fire Battalion Chief Fred Eiesland said he was unable to remain on the fire department without jeopardizing a significant amount of money that he has been counting on for his "real world" retirement.
Steve Shepherd retired in May after 24 years with the fire department. He thought he'd serve another three to five years, but the fact that his pension benefit would be lower started him thinking of retirement.
"Then I got thinking, I served 24 years, was Firefighter of the Year this year, I'd done everything basically I could. Now I get to spend more time with my family, there's less of a commitment," Shepherd said.
"But it was the pension that got me started, when Brainerd didn't add to it when the financing wasn't there to keep it going. Otherwise, I'm just laying too much money on the table. I worked hard for too many years to get it there. If I was younger, it would have been possible to wait to get it back up there again."
Two months removed from firefighting, Shepherd said he misses most everything about the department, especially the camaraderie with his fellow firefighters.
"It was such a family. That was 24 years out of 53 I was around, it was my whole life," he said. "It's been pretty tough."
It was City Administrator Dan Vogt who recommended hiring six paid on-call firefighters, which would bring the department to 35 paid on-call firefighters, still short of the usual 40 paid on-call firefighters.
"At least that gets us back to probably a little more of a comfortable level," Vogt told the committee. "We don't want to get ourselves too short. Some days it's difficult getting enough people to respond anyhow."
What Vogt referred to was what Underhill called a change in how firefighters operate. He said fewer businesses are allowing volunteer or paid on-call firefighters an opportunity to leave work to respond to a fire, which has resulted in fire departments relying more on mutual aid from other departments.
The lack of manpower during daylight hours, and overall, is one reason Underhill would like to keep paid on-call staff levels up. Also, there is a need to rotate firefighters at a fire to avoid exhaustion.
"I just want to make sure we have the call coverage we need," Underhill said. "If we have one fire, that's fine, we'll have enough people responding. But if we have a big incident or two or three fires at once then we start taxing the limitations of the department."
Longevity is a another concern, as younger firefighters may live in a community and be on the department for only five to 10 years instead of 20 to 30 years, as was the case in the past.
"Our society is a mobile society compared to what it used to be," Underhill said.
Fewer firefighters responding to calls also could mean an increase in the city's ISO rating from Insurance Office Inc., which evaluates fire protection in 43 states throughout the country. The lower the number, the better insurance rates those cities receive. Two years ago Brainerd and Baxter went from a 5 rating to a 4 rating.
"There's a bigger picture than just the fact we're losing firefighters," Underhill said.
MATT ERICKSON may be reached at matt.erickson@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5857.