New hires bring fire department to full staffing

By Randy Bell    

The Clinton Fire Department’s (CFD) goal of filling all of its budgeted positions has been elusive.  But with the hiring of six new firefighters this month, Chief Levius Buckley says the CFD is now fully staffed, even though it’s losing another employee to retirement.  He says he took the impending departure into account and planned ahead with the six hires, so that he wound up with a full complement of 58 firefighters.

“We got close a couple of months ago at 57,” Buckley says.  “But we had a retirement, and a few [firefighters] didn’t pan out,” leaving the department with more slots to fill.   

While the hirings approved at the September 1 Board of Aldermen meeting will take care of those vacancies, the firefighters coming on board are untrained.

“They’re all brand-new,” the chief says.

They’ll be sent to the State Fire Academy for seven weeks of rigorous training, combining online, classroom and hands-on instruction in the areas of fire behavior, fire suppression, rescue, incident command, hazardous materials and other fire-related topics.  In addition, they’ll undergo training as emergency medical technicians, which is standard practice for the department.

According to Buckley, it makes sense for all Clinton firefighters to be certified as EMTs, because seventy-five percent of the calls they handle are for emergency medical services.

The chief is hoping that firefighter pay raises, which are built into the new City budget, will help curtail the constant loss of personnel who have been leaving Clinton for higher-paying jobs elsewhere.

“I think it’ll be enough,” Buckley says.  “You need money to pay your bills.  But what we’re building here is more than money.  The good guys, the camaraderie.  I think that’ll be a lasting effect to keep some guys around.”

He says a good work environment goes a long way toward keeping firefighters happy.

“You want to enjoy coming to work, enjoy the guys you’re working next to, day in and day out.”

Even though several more members of the department are eligible to retire, Buckley is hoping they’ll decide to stay on a while longer to help keep the numbers up.

“That would make me really happy if we could do that.”

But being fully staffed is about more than just reaching a goal.  The chief says it helps to maintain a quality fire department.

“It gives you a chance to grow and be content with the skill level by keeping the guys around and them training the younger guys.  It just creates a better product for the citizens.”