Conway firefighter urges council to use sales-tax revenue to address pay and staffing

Conway firefighter Ryan Wolf told the City Council during public comment that Conway’s fire department is understaffed relative to national recommendations and that recent raises have not kept pace with inflation, urging the council to allow revenue from a proposed sales tax to be used to address pay and staffing.

Wolf, a Conway firefighter, said the department had received raises totaling about 29% over eight years but that cumulative inflation over the same period is roughly 31%. “When multiple professional firefighters with decades of experience are telling you it's unsafe to operate the way that we do with our minimum staffing, and that's based on scientific research and our own personal experiences,” Wolf said. “...If this city is not willing to commit to supporting its first responders, then the citizen should be made…