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Retired firefighter urges Saint George to expand paid fire staffing after recent large fires
Summary
A retired Orange County Fire Authority firefighter urged the council to consider staffing more stations with paid personnel, citing recent apartment and wind‑event home losses and concerns about volunteer reliability and response times; council members said they review response times and continue EMS/fire staffing discussions.
Mike McKee, who said he is retired from the Orange County Fire Authority in California, told the council recent large local fires and wind‑driven losses show Saint George should consider more paid firefighters and cautioned about reliance on volunteers. McKee said he was told some local stations are not staffed and that residents reported waits of about 20 minutes for equipment to arrive at one incident.
Council members acknowledged the concern and said staff already review response times and that the department has more than 90 full‑time firefighters while retaining some volunteers. S2 said the city is "review[ing] those response times" and that discussions about EMS and fire staffing are ongoing; staff offered that interested residents can request response-time records through the city's public‑records process.
