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Bradley County firefighter urges commission to address pay, staffing and equipment during public comment
Summary
A Bradley County firefighter described long hours, multiple jobs, and staffing shortfalls, urged the commission to raise pay and retain personnel, and cited a national staffing guideline referenced in the transcript.
During the public-comment period of the Oct. 13 work session, Bradley County firefighter Caleb Lazader described sustained staffing and pay shortfalls that he said are forcing personnel to take multiple jobs and are degrading department readiness.
"My name is Caleb Lazader. I'm in the Second District. I'm the secretary of IFF 48 68, the Bradley County EMS and Fire Association," Lazader told the commission. He said he worked 96 hours in a single week and slept in his own bed only once, and that many firefighters now take additional jobs so their families can make ends meet. "We are not volunteers. We are not hobbyists. We are a professional fire and rescue organization charged with protecting over 200 mile square miles of this county," he said.
Lazader said pay differentials are drawing staff to neighboring jurisdictions and described overtime, aging apparatus and worn equipment. He referenced the staffing guideline he called "FPA 1720" and said the department often operates below the national staffing standard cited in the comment. "If we don't act, if funding, pay, and apparatus replacements continues at this pace, our citizens will be less safe, our response times will grow longer, and our department will continue to lose good men and women who want to stay but simply can't afford to," he said.
The speaker thanked the commission for prior investments in counseling and new trucks at certain stations but requested concrete action. Lazader asked the commission to pursue pay parity with neighboring departments and to invest in apparatus and staffing levels that the department can sustain.
No formal action was taken during the work session in response to the comment; commissioners acknowledged the remarks and several said they had met previously with fire representatives. Any policy, budget or personnel changes would require follow-up by the county administration and possible budget committee or commission action.
