Colo. firefighter turnover heats up

The exodus is blamed on a scandal involving the former chief, and lower pay and benefits than in other cities.

Carlos Illescas
The Denver Post

AURORA, Colo. — An unprecedented number of firefighters are leaving the department this year, and city officials are scrambling to fill those jobs with qualified candidates.

An estimated 25 of 311 firefighters will have left by the end of the year, said assistant city manager Frank Ragan.

In a typical year, the Aurora Fire Department might see 10 people leave.

A scandal that eventually forced out the fire chief, and lower pay and benefits compared with other cities in the area, are reasons, some say, for the exodus.

"We're starting to become a training ground for other departments that pay better," said Randy Rester, head of the Aurora firefighters union. "We're at the bottom of the heap when it comes to benefits."

Four firefighters have retired, two are now with the Denver Fire Department, one went to a department in Alaska and another to California.

Two years ago, a study of metro-area departments found Aurora ranked fifth out of eight in pay and benefits. Denver firefighters made $33 an hour, followed by South Metro, West Metro and Boulder. Aurora firefighters make about $26 an hour, Rester said.

"Anytime we see that level of attrition in such an essential part of city government, you have to be concerned," said City Councilman Ryan Frazier, head of the city's public safety committee. "You don't want it to keep going on."

Compounding the problem is that firefighters in Aurora have to be certified paramedics, which is not a requirement in some departments, such as Denver.

This year, allegations surfaced that Fire Chief Casey Jones was having an affair with his city legal adviser, Julie Werking. He also was accused of playing golf with her on company time. Jones resigned just as an outside investigation into his conduct wrapped up, but it did confirm those allegations.

Morale dipped and gossip increased, which was not conducive to running a top-flight fire department, officials said.

Ray Rahne of the Colorado Professional Fire Fighters association said the industry as a whole is seeing more firefighters leave for other careers, especially younger ones who want to make more money doing something less dangerous.

"People are leaving the fire service and moving on, not that they are dissatisfied with the job or anything like that," he said.

The departure of the 25 firefighters in Aurora comes as the department is trying to become more diverse. The department is 86 percent white, 5 percent Hispanic and 3 percent black, compared with the city, which is 20 percent Hispanic and 13 percent black.

Interim Fire Chief John Scott, one of several in-house candidates for the chief's job, said every department wants to be diverse.

"We're pirating people just like we're getting pirated," Scott said. "We are competing for that same quality candidate."

The Fire Department recently was approved for $30,000 in next year's budget for recruiting. But that's not enough for a full-time recruiter, so those duties fall to the public information officer and others who volunteer.

Scott said the department is reaching out to the community, pooling efforts with the Aurora Police Department and attending job fairs to find would-be firefighters.

"I think this is more than just a blip," Frazier said. "It's not something that happens often but not anything that we can just brush away."