Two months after Pender County finished absorbing its fire and EMS service into county government, the department is still short 52 workers, and the staffing gap has been severe enough to shut down individual firehouses and EMS stations for a day at a time. Fire crews are operating at roughly 73% capacity and EMS at around 72%, according to figures set to be presented to commissioners this week.
The numbers come as county staff prepare a final merger implementation update for the Sept. 8 commissioners meeting, as reported by Port City Daily. The fire department needs 96 firefighters to run at full strength and is currently down 26, while EMS requires 92 employees to hit full staffing and is short 26 of its own. Those gaps have translated directly into the kind of station brownouts that Pender County officials have been trying to head off for nearly a year.
The current shortfall follows a wave of departures that predated the merger itself. Assistant chief Mark Haraway told commissioners that 42 employees left Pender EMS & Fire between March and October of last year, and Haraway, who led the department’s fire marshal office until 2023 and has more than four decades in emergency management, said the merger contributed to the exodus because of uncertainty and potential leadership issues, per WECT. Not everyone shares that grim read: Jerry Groves said the merger has so far been a success, according to the same Port City Daily report.
Hiring Pipeline Moves, But Slowly
Pender County human resources staff are handling advertising, application reviews, background checks and offer-letter preparation for every vacant emergency services position, but the work has been delayed because HR also supports other county departments simultaneously. The county has already interviewed 18 applicants for seven open captain positions, with interviews and assessments wrapping up on Aug. 31, and offer letters for those captain roles are expected soon…