At a Biloxi City Council budget workshop on the proposed FY25–26 municipal budget, city and fire department leaders outlined staffing levels, a revamped training plan and growing equipment costs — including higher prices for new fire apparatus and maintenance challenges linked to diesel emissions controls.

The Fire Chief (name not specified in the transcript) described minimum daily staffing requirements and the department’s training pipeline, saying the department must staff 46 positions per shift as a minimum and that recent recruit classes increased shift rosters to roughly 50–51 personnel per shift. The chief said the department runs two recruit cycles per year and that full recruit preparation takes about 20 weeks, including hazmat awareness, basic firefighter training and an EMT‑basic program.

The chief and council discussed a proposed reorganization of training staff to add dedicated, weekday training officers so the department can run recruit classes and advanced in‑service training concurrently. The department requested space for training props and materials and proposed building or renovating a metal storage/training building to host dirty, hands‑on training while freeing classroom space for officer and instructor courses.

Capital costs and equipment reliability were highlighted. The council heard that the cost of new fire trucks has risen substantially in recent years (one council member cited a rise from about $570,000 to $970,000) and that replacing a ten‑year‑old pump engine cost about $55,000. Fire officials said modern diesel exhaust aftertreatment systems (regen and DEF requirements) are causing more engine failures for apparatus that sit or run short routes, making replacements and specialized repairs more expensive.

The department said overtime runs roughly $1 million and that outfit-and-training a new firefighter (including equipment and training time) costs on the order of $100,000. The department reported roughly ten fire stations across the city and said it maintains several non‑truck support vehicles (pickup trucks, boats) — about 15–20 additional units depending on counting methodology.

On federal grants, the chief explained the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grant can pay salaries and training for new hires for several years; Biloxi has applied in recent cycles but was not awarded on recent submissions. The chief said the city coordinates grant applications with the city’s grant writer.

Why it matters: replacement apparatus, training capacity and staffing levels directly affect response capability and municipal capital planning. Emissions-related maintenance issues add recurring costs and complicate life‑cycle estimates for apparatus.

Looking ahead: fire leadership asked council to consider the training‑division reorganization, space needs for hands‑on training, and long‑term capital plans that could include multi‑year financing for high‑cost apparatus.