Stillwater Fire Department Staffing Reaches 'Concerning' Low

The Stillwater City Council on Tuesday night unanimously approved Fire Chief Stu Glaser’s request to immediately begin the process to hire two new full-time firefighters.

Over the past several years, the Stillwater Fire Department has experienced a significant number of resignations from the volunteer paid on-call ranks—leaving the department at an all-time staffing low.

The department currently has eight vacancies in the volunteer paid on-call ranks, and Chief Stu Glaser said he anticipates another resignation in the next couple of months, bringing the total number of vacant positions to nine, or one-third of the entire department.

“This situation is causing considerable operational difficulties, adding considerable expense and impacting emergency response for the city,” Glaser said.

In addition to the current vacancies, Glaser said five other fire personnel have at least 20 years of service in to the city and could retire immediately.

“This is a significant staffing issue,” Glaser said, “with tremendous implications for the city.”

Glaser said the issue of firefighter retention is not unique to the Stillwater Fire Department, as departments all over the metro area are facing similar staffing struggles.

The fire department’s staffing issues have been discussed for quite some time, Glaser said, explaining that he has analyzed and researched several different staffing models and believes hiring two full-time firefighters is the most cost effective way to stabilize the fire department’s staffing levels.

The funding is available for the positions in 2013 due to the eight vacancies on the paid on-call ranks, Glaser said. For the 2014 budget, the chief will recommend line-item reductions and the reallocation of funds normally used for volunteer paid on-call firefighters to be used for the full-time positions.

Check back for more about the discussion and a link to the archived video of the July 2 City Council workshop.