Fire district adopts staffing and recruitment measures, mutual-aid agreement and purchases training tower

At its April 15 session the Story County Fire Protection District and the Board of County Commissioners approved several fire department actions intended to increase staffing, improve regional response, and expand training capacity.

Automatic mutual aid: Chief Jeremy Longart presented an updated interlocal agreement with Central Lyon Fire Protection District that converts a prior "mutual aid" system (where a request required approval) to "automatic" aid. Under the revised agreement, dispatch will automatically tone both agencies on a call to the affected areas (Silver City and Mark Twain). Chief Longart said the change is intended to provide faster responses and effectively double coverage in those areas. The board voted to authorize the chief to sign the updated interlocal agreement.

Recruitment and lateral hire policy: The board approved Policy P508, a firefighter lateral hiring process that provides benefits to recruit certified firefighters, AEMTs and paramedics. Chief Longart described program elements that include advanced pay-step placement (up to step 5 on a seven-step schedule), a preloaded leave-bank for immediate coverage needs, and an option to pay up to $5,000 toward paramedic training costs, subject to repayment conditions if employees leave early. The policy is designed to attract experienced medics and reduce the need to send new hires to a full fire academy, Chief Longart said.

Promotions and three-person staffing at Station 74: Commissioners approved promotion of three additional fire captains; those promotions create three firefighter-paramedic or firefighter-AEMT vacancies to be backfilled so Station 74 in Lockwood meets minimum three-person staffing. Chief Longart said the changes are intended to increase safety and operational efficiency ahead of fire season and that testing is tentatively scheduled in May.

Salary-grade adjustment for fuels management officer: The board approved Resolution No. 25-766, which increases the grade and salary range for an appointed fuels management officer to align with battalion chief pay grade (grade 148). Chief Longart told the board the role performs at a regional, deputy-chief level (grant work and community coordination); the board set the effective date for the adjustment as April 21, 2025.

Policy P503a: Commissioners also approved a revision to policy P503a (non-represented employee compensation), replacing a strike-team leader incentive with the National Fire Academy managing officer certification as the performance credential for that incentive.

Training tower purchase: The board approved purchase of an unbudgeted training tower from North Lake Tahoe Fire Protection District for approximately $35,000. Chief Longart said the district has used the equipment previously and the tower would be repainted and placed into service promptly.

All motions in these items passed unanimously. Chiefs and the comptroller said the staffing and training items were within the proposed budget or had small overlap costs that the district expects to absorb in the current fiscal year with the longer-term costs reflected in the upcoming budget.