The Wilmington Fire Department is facing a growing crisis in recruitment and retention, driven primarily by two major challenges: low wages and inadequate healthcare benefits.
“Recruitment and retention is … terrible,” Jordan Pettid, president of the Wilmington Professional Firefighters Association Local 129, said. “I think this year alone we’ve lost 17 (people) so far. Last year was 24 (people) and I think this year we still (have) roughly five that have at least mentioned that they plan on leaving.”
Approximately 75% of the Wilmington Fire Department staff is part of the Local 129 association, which advocates on behalf of its members, Pettid said. Issues of pay and healthcare consistently surface as the primary concerns.
“If we can fix our pay and the benefits (then) our retention, our promotion processes, like everything is going to be fixed,” Pettid said. “Majority of the department is (saying) all these small issues are based around pay and benefits, so that’s why it’s really those two.”