Harrisburg fire chief seeks full‑time inspector, phases of $1.8M training‑grounds plan

Chief Michael Dunn on Tuesday presented the Fire Department’s FY26 operating and capital requests, including a proposal to convert a part‑time fire inspector into a full‑time position and a phased training‑grounds buildout that would cost about $1.8 million at full buildout.

Dunn said the department responded to 2,939 incidents in 2024, producing 4,422 unit responses, and credited annual inspections with reducing a single-store fire loss from potentially millions to about $25,000. He said the town’s part‑time inspector position, created in 2011, regularly exceeds the thousand‑hour cap on part‑time work and that growth in the fire district — from roughly 14,000 residents in 2012 to a little over 24,000 in 2024 — has driven inspection workload from roughly 350 inspected occupancies to more than 900.

Those operational points framed Dunn’s requests, which included: converting the current part‑time fire inspector to full time in FY26 and a six‑phase training‑grounds project. Phase 1 would grade the site, install a logistics garage and utilities and deliver an on‑site assembled building; Dunn gave a…