DeKalb looks to hire 40 displaced
East Point firefighters
by Andy Phelan
andy@dekalbchamp.com
Fire Rescue Chief David Foster is seeking to hire 40 East Point firefighters who were let go due to budget cuts. |
More than 40 East Point firefighters who were laid off last week due to budget cuts might have a new place to call home -- the DeKalb County Fire Rescue Department.
DeKalb County held a job fair for firefighters July 8 and 9 at its headquarters in Tucker with the hopes of filling 40 vacancies.
“We hope to get the lion’s share of those officers,” said CEO Vernon Jones in a news conference with county fire Chief David Foster. “They’re going to be highly sought after because they are trained and certified as emergency technicians.”
Jones and Foster said by hiring experience firefighters, it could save the county more than $30,000 a piece in training costs.
“We can have them on the streets working within 90 days compared to nine months if we were bringing in a rookie,” said Foster. “All they have to learn is our way of doing things.”
The department has about 750 sworn fire personnel now, but will bring that up to 790 by filling the 40 vacancies. Another 32 rookies will be added soon, said Foster, which should bring the force up to more than 820 firefighters.
DeKalb, the 10th busiest fire department in the country, responded to 153,000 calls last year from its 26 stations.
Jones and Foster said they will be offering the jobs in the $32,000 to $49,700 range. The 40 positions have already been allocated in the 2008 budget, Jones said.
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