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Huber Heights proposes firefighter career ladder, hires for 'firefighter-only' and EMT roles to ease staffing shortfall
Summary
City staff and the fire union presented a plan to add firefighter-only and firefighter-EMT roles, increase authorized positions from 45 to 48, and promote apprenticeships; staff said the change should reduce overtime and create a recruiting pipeline while union leaders signaled support.
Huber Heights fire officials presented a staffing proposal at the council work session on May 8 that would add a two-tier hiring path — firefighter-EMT and firefighter-only positions — alongside existing firefighter-paramedic roles, increase total authorized fire positions from 45 to 48 and reduce one captain slot in the table of organization.
Fire leadership said the change is intended to address a regional shortage of fully certified firefighter-paramedics and to create a local pipeline for people to enter the profession and advance. The chief described the region’s recruiting pressures, gave training-time figures, and said the city currently struggles to fill paramedic-certified vacancies: paramedic certification commonly requires about 21 months of education and clinical hours, while an EMT certificate is roughly a semester of instruction.
The proposal would allow the city to hire candidates who already hold a firefighter card and/or EMT certification and place them on a stepped pay scale: firefighter-EMTs would be paid less than fully certified firefighter-paramedics and firefighter-only hires would be paid less still, creating financial incentives to advance. Staff said the first-year net savings from salary differentials combined with reduced overtime could be about $196,000, and that adding the new classes would increase daily staffing buffers so the division would need less overtime to cover vacancies and scheduled time off.
Apprentices and certification requirements: staff said two Miami Valley CTC student apprentices are near graduation and could be offered paid internships or full-time positions under the new plan. The city also told council it will include language making higher certification a condition of continued employment in an appointment letter or timeline, a point labor representatives requested during negotiations.
Union response and implementation: Neil, the firefighters’ union president, told council he had reservations initially but ultimately supports the approach after labor-management discussion. “There were some reservations on our part at first, but they’ve been addressed pretty well. That’s why I’m here tonight supporting it,” Neil said.
Next steps: staff asked council to move the table-of-organization and companion salary-range changes to the next regular meeting for formal consideration and to allow implementation if approved. Staff said the plan will be refined over time and that promotions to paramedic status would remain part of advancement expectations and supervisory eligibility.
Ending: If council approves the changes, the city expects to begin filling the new roles quickly and pursue apprentices and local candidates to shorten the time-to-service for frontline staffing.
