GILLETTE, Wyo. — Campbell County Fire Department’s top priority is bolstering personnel, and the master planning the department’s undertaking will help with that goal, Fire Chief Jeff Bender said March 24.
He said while the combination of this year and the proposed fiscal year 2023-2024 have made progress on solving a firefighter shortage, the department’s response to incidents remains heavily reliant on part-time personnel and the part-time ranks have been declining. The department has a small group in its current academy, which started in January. In the fall, it will draw from an ongoing interest list for testing for the 2024 academy.
Bender said the master planning process will provide insight regarding the most effective deployment of the available resources and strategies for updating its part-time program. He said that while the March 21 community meeting at Alan Mickelson Fire Training Center wasn’t heavily attended, the meeting simply offered people the opportunity to fill out the same questionnaire that’s available on the department’s website.
He said the department anticipates receiving a draft of the work from Emergency Services Consulting International for review and comment this spring. A final document this summer with findings and recommendations from Emergency Services Consulting International should become available in the summer.
