Macon celebrates new class of firefighters amid efforts to beat shortage

Caption

The class of 2024 recruits for the Bibb County Fire Department sit in a row at their graduation ceremony.

Credit: Sofi Gratas/GPB News

Firefighters do more than just put out fires — they also respond to 9-1-1 calls when police can’t make it. But nationwide, employing firefighters has been a challenge while calls for service have gone up. 

Some help is already on the way, though.

Afte a graduation ceremony in West Macon, 15 new firefighters were promptly given their assignments to start work in the coming week. They’ll be stationed full-time at one of 22 fire stations in the county. 

Training Chief Arthur Parker says the Macon-Bibb Fire Department graduates around three classes of recruits each year, ranging from 15 to 40. 

That’s more than years prior, ever since the county shortened the pathway to certification by removing Emergency Medical Technician training, and part of efforts in Bibb County to hire and retain firefighters. 

“Because we wanted to turn over more classes and go ahead and get firefighters on trucks faster,” Parker said. “It just speeds up the process.” 

Now, instead of six months, firefighter certification takes just three months. Parker said recruits still learn basic medical training and that once they're certified, they’re encouraged to take EMT classes for a chance at a better salary. 

“That helps them for a promotion and to get some more money in their pockets,” Parker said.

According to open payroll data, firefighters with EMT certification in Bibb County made around $15 per hour last year. This year they’ll make more. A budget allocation of $91.5 million spread across Bibb County public safety departments will bring salaries up between 6% to 10%, effective this month. 

“One of the things our public safety departments are struggling with in Georgia is, our young people, they are chasing the dollar,” Bibb County Fire Chief Shane Edwards said. 

Edwards said the county’s investments in its firefighters is an investment in emergency response. The Bibb County Fire Department responds to over 1,000 emergency calls made to 911 every month. 

“I've got 22 fire stations out there in our county," Edwards said. "The sheriff has a higher call volume. So he may have deputies that are tied up on other calls.”

Edwards said his squads can fill gaps in those responses to things like car crashes, medical emergencies and of course, house fires. In the meantime, Edwards said he is working closely with the Bibb County Sheriff's Department on “fixing” issues with emergency dispatch. 

“We're always looking at how to make improvements and how to make response times better,” Edwards said. 

In December 2023, the Bibb County Sheriff’s Department responded to calls an average of 23 minutes. 

Last year, Bibb County took another step to grow recruitment — launching a career training program at the Hutchings College and Career Academy that fast-tracks high schoolers to firefighter certification. 

The first group from that program graduated in May and will start work this year.