Raleigh short dozens of firefighters; some blame salaries that compare poorly to other cities'

Fire Chief Herbert Griffin said his department is short 10 to 20 people on an average day, and trucks aren't fully staffed every day.

"As across the private sector and public sector, it’s a challenge to acquire staffing," Griffin said Friday.

Andrew Davis, president of the Raleigh Professional Fire Fighters Association, said compensation is a primary reason the department is having troubling recruiting and retaining firefighters.

"Area applicants know that they can go to Cary or Morrisville or surrounding departments and make upwards of $9,000 more a year starting out," Davis said.

The starting salary in the Raleigh Fire Department is $38,058, and according to figures obtained by WRAL News, rookie firefighters earn $45,656 in Virginia Beach, Va., where the cost of living is on par with Raleigh.

In other cities with similar populations, firefighters start at $54,600 in Colorado Springs, Colo., and at $58,094 in Omaha, Neb.

"We’re not asking to be greedy. We’re not asking for preferential treatment. We just want to be treated equitably and fairly," Davis said, adding that candidates with degrees should receive an education incentive.

"These applicants that go to college and spend the time and money to get their degrees, they won’t want to start out making $38,000 a year," he said.

Raleigh police officers, firefighters threaten to sue over city's vaccination rules

Griffin said Raleigh is working on a market analysis of firefighter salaries.

In the meantime, the department has hired a full-time recruiter to help close its 8 percent vacancy rate before the annual application window closes at the end of November.

"We take an active approach and aggressive approach to going out and getting those highly qualified applicants," Griffin said. "Hopefully, our recruiting efforts will produce an increase of applicants we can select from."

The department is short 24 firefighters, 22 lieutenants and two captains. The 20 recruits who were hired through last year's application process will graduate from the training academy on Nov. 16 and will help fill some of those vacancies.

"It will be very telling this month when we see how many applicants apply," Davis said, adding that his organization is trying to discuss their concerns with City Council members.

Griffin guarantees that staffing shortages won't affect public safety.

"Every day, our public sector will be staffed with highly qualified people, and we will respond to all the calls that come in to the city," he said.