A Flint apartment complex fire that left three firefighters injured last month pushed the Flint Fire Department to its limits that day.
Not only did it require every firefighter on duty that day — 14 in all — the fire at Village Shores Apartments also forced the city to call in mutual aid because the department’s two ladder trucks were both in the repair shop.
“We didn’t have enough people,” said Flint Fire Chief Ray Barton said. “Realistically, we needed double what we had.”
Three firefighters hospitalized after blaze at Flint apartments
“One of the firefighter’s tanks, his alarm started going off,” said Barton. “When he switched tanks, he went to come back in and the fire had spread, dropped down from the ceiling.”
Help is on the way but it could be February before the city has 33 more firefighters expected to be hired under a new $3.8 million federal grant.
Fire station to reopen, 33 firefighters to be hired with $3.8M grant
After losing 33 firefighters from February 2014 to February 2016, the city is set to receive $3.767 million to restore those positions via the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response, or SAFER, grant program.
Barton said he is interviewing 130 candidates over the next two weeks for the open positions.
Those chosen still will need to pass physicals and drug screens. The new hires will be selected by the first of the year, Barton said, but there are other things that must also take place before they begin working.
“It takes time,” Barton said. “(Human resources), just like all of the other city departments, is understaffed.”
The Federal Emergency Management Agency allows Flint six months to hire the 33 firefighters as part of the two-year Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response, or SAFER, grant program.
Even with additional firefighters, Barton said the injuries the firefighters received at the Nov. 22 blaze may not have been able to be prevented.
“Fires are unpredictable,” he said. “We still don’t understand why there was a flash. It changed so quickly. (Firefighters) did everything they were supposed to.”
None of the three firefighters injured missed any work, Barton said.
Both of Flint’s ladder trucks also are operational, Barton said.
“Our trucks – it’s really not the age – it’s our usage, it’s our run volume,” he said. “The issue on that fire was manpower.”
