New fire department trying to fill firefighting positions

The short time to launch the new fire department has made it harder to hire enough firefighters

June 23, 2012 09:42 AM

By Bonnie Eslinger
The San Jose Mercury News

SAN CARLOS, Calif. — As San Carlos gets its startup fire department off the ground, Redwood City is seeking reimbursement for loaning some of its firefighters to fill San Carlos’ ranks.

San Carlos council members are scheduled to vote Monday on approving up to $400,000 to pay for the staffing gaps in the city’s fire department.

Redwood City and San Carlos agreed to create a “hybrid” department in July 2011 in which San Carlos would provide firefighters and paramedics while Redwood City’s fire brass would handle management.

However, San Carlos has had difficulty fully staffing its department “due to the relatively short time,” according to a memo for Monday’s meeting from Redwood City Deputy Fire Chief Stan Maupin. As a result, Redwood City sent its firefighters to work in San Carlos between January and June of this year, and Redwood City wants San Carlos to pay it back for the support.

While San Carlos originally budgeted for 21 employees, the city council agreed in April to hire three firefighters because the city found it didn’t have enough staff to cover for absences and other vacancies and was getting hit with heavy overtime costs.

Those additional hires have not yet been brought on board. Also, some firefighters just out of the academy are still in their probationary training period, San Carlos Assistant City Manager Brian Moura said Friday.

“We’re still in startup mode,” Moura said. “We have 24 positions authorized, but we only have 20 filled.”

As a result of the vacancies, San Carlos still has $350,000 in its fire department budget to pay for the supplemental staffing, although $50,000 will also need to come from the general fund, according to Maupin.

When San Carlos shared a fire department with Belmont, the city’s share of the annual cost came out to $7.1 million. The two cities dissolved the department in October 2011.

With the added staffing, San Carlos expects to spend $6,463,910 for its new department this upcoming fiscal year, according to the city’s proposed budget.