Wilson County firefighters press EMA committee for more staffing, present cost options

Paul Young, president of the Wilson County Firefighters Association, told the Wilson County Emergency Management Authority during the meeting's public-comment period that the county's fire service is understaffed and urged the committee to fund additional personnel.

Young said his association is speaking for 21 members and described recent responses in rural zones where crews arrived with too few firefighters to enter burning buildings. "I had two people that could go inside that fire to check for victims…for almost eight minutes," he said, describing an incident in which mutual aid was needed because local staffing was insufficient.

The firefighter association provided a packet of staffing scenarios and cost estimates to the committee. Young said the department's current target staffing is 44 people per shift according to the packet, and that meeting the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) standard would require…