SALISBURY — At their Jan. 16 meeting, the Salisbury City Council received a year in review presentation from the Salisbury Fire Department, led by Salisbury Fire Chief Bob Parnell and Human Resources Business Partner Jennifer Silva, summarizing 2023 and what is being done now to ensure it continues to serve the people of Salisbury to the best of their abilities.

In June 2021, SFD became a class 1 Insurance Service Office rated department, which only 1 percent of all fire stations in the country are. Class 1 is the highest ranking available. 

Over the past four years, the number of emergency calls have increased, with 2023 having 9,313. Parnell expects the increases are due to city growth, the I-85 corridor, and that people using the 911 system are unfamiliar with it. Around 65 percent of calls are medical related. 

Station 1, the busiest station in Salisbury, responded to just under 4,000 calls. The department is working on spreading the workload out more equally so no station is overly burdened with calls. 

2023 saw the city break ground on the new Fire Station 3 and the purchase of new trucks and turnout gear. However, the new vehicles will not arrive for another 42 months. Parnell says this “unprecedented” delay is caused by supply chain issues and an uptick in purchase orders. 

Fourteen SFD employees left in 2023 for a number of reasons that included transferring to other departments, retirements, resignations and career changes. Parnell advises 15 people were hired last year to offset these departures. There are currently four vacancies in the department, but three job offers were made last week and applicant testing is ongoing. 

Parnell explained that firefighters work on a 24/48 schedule, meaning they work for 24 hours then are off for 48 hours. Seventy-eight uniformed firefighters work over the three shifts. There are 26 firefighters on each shift working seven trucks. Minimum staffing requirements stipulate 22 employees per shift and four additional positions if someone can not come in case they are sick or have a family emergency. 

If the 22 positions can not be filled, the department does a “hire-back” with firefighters from other shifts who are paid overtime for their time. Through Oct. to Dec., 51 “hire-backs” were needed. The city budgeted $400,000 to cover their overtime pay. Staff is developing software that will choose “hire-backs” based on their availability. 

The 2023 SFD budget was $12,949,063, $3 million more than last year. Their budget was identical to the police department’s. Silva outlined the minimum and maximum of pay ranges for SFD and the compensation of support staff from other departments. 

Merit increases, professional development and certification incentives can all factor into salary increases. Department employees normally get a 5 percent raise within a year of employment. When they are promoted to a new position, employees receive a 5 percent raise or the minimum pay of their new job title, whichever is greater. 

Over the past five years, three pay studies involving the fire department have been conducted. The most recent one increased the pay for 55 SFD employees. 

SFD offers salary increases for associate’s, bachelor’s or master’s degrees. There is also a chance for more pay if an employee is bilingual. Employees can obtain engine technician, advanced company crew lead or other types of certifications for more pay as well. 

A “cross-departmental team” is looking over education, incentive, career development in all departments to ensure equity amongst everyone. City Manager Jim Greene said that Salisbury’s focus moving forward is to supply pay increases and compensation for all city employees. 

New fire engine

At the same meeting, council approved the purchase of a 2025 Pierce fire engine from Atlantic Emergency Solutions, Inc. for $842,057. Last year, council went ahead with the purchase of three vehicles for the department that cost $4 million. Since those will not arrive for another 42 months, there is a need for new equipment to get here before then. The engine will be delivered in August 2025. 

Finance Director Wade Furches said the money to pay for the engine would originate from general fund balance. In June, $2.6 million was appropriated for the purchase of the new Fire Station 3. Those funds can now be used in a different way after a grant was awarded to the city by the state.