Kara Fohner
The Gaston Gazette
The city of Mount Holly plans to hire a dozen new firefighters and has raised the starting pay for firefighters who complete the probationary period.
The Mount Holly Fire Department currently has 25 full-time positions and 16 part-time positions. According to minutes from a town meeting, Fire Chief Ryan Baker told city officials that he wanted to add an additional firefighter to each shift at each station. Baker told the Mount Holly City Council that the current levels of staffing could cause employee burnout and fatigue, and employees have found it difficult to plan vacations around their shifts. He also said that Mount Holly has the lowest starting pay for firefighters in Gaston County, making it hard to recruit.
The Mount Holly City Council voted to add the new positions and raise the starting pay to $50,016.75 for firefighters who complete the probationary period. After hiring 12 firefighters, the three Mount Holly fire stations will have four firefighters, 24 hours a day, at each station. The Mount Holly City Council also approved the purchase of two fire engines to replace two older engines with a price tag of more than $1.7 million.