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The Orland Fire Protection District’s board of trustees approved 10 new hires to replace firefighters expected to retire this year. In the past, the district has waited for firefighters to leave before looking for replacements.
Even though the district may have one or two extra firefighters during the summer, hiring ahead of time will save the district money in the long run, Fire Chief Ken Brucki said, since they won’t need to rely on overtime to stay fully staffed during the three to five months it takes to hire and train new firefighters.
The district expects to save money on salaries by replacing more experienced firefighters with new hires, particularly after negotiating a new employee contract in October 2013, he said. A top-paid lieutenant near retirement might make $109,000 per year, he said but the district’s starting salary is $53,500 plus a paramedic stipend of $3,586, down from $71,000 prior to the new contract.
Fire officials also voted to reduce the amount of taxes it is requesting from taxpayers this year by about $1.1 million. Brucki said the reduction from the district’s roughly $29 million tax levy request was in line with similar abatements approved each of the last three years.
Trustees also gave the OK to move forward on renovations at two fire stations. They approved $85,000 for improvements in the offices and chief’s bunkroom at Station 1 and $85,000 to update offices and the exercise room at Station 6. The stations have been retrofitted several times and require some work to bring electrical and mechanical systems up to code and make sure they are current, Brucki said.
Fire officials also recognized several firefighters who successfully treated cardiac arrest victims. Firefighters Robert Proctor, Brian Thompson, Daniel Ritchie and Chad Erickson and Eng. David Nagel, Lt. Erick Johnson, Eng. Robert Walsh and Lt. Peter Vassios received unit commendation awards for responding to an emergency call on Jan. 2 and treating an elderly woman in cardiac arrest.
Lt. Robert Stachnik, Eng. Steven Rivero, Lt. Erick Johnson, Eng. Robert Winkelman and firefighter David Popp received awards for responding to two cardiac arrest emergency calls on Jan. 31 and March 2. All three patients were successfully resuscitated and taken to the hospital for further treatment, district officials said.
thanks Dennis
