Lubbock firefighters are proud to deliver excellent service, be good stewards of city resources and give back to our community. We also are compelled to alert the people we serve to looming threats to our city’s public safety.
For a generation, we have quietly worked with elected officials and their appointees to help ensure the fire service meets the needs of Lubbock taxpayers as well as firefighter families. A strong fire department not only keeps fire and emergency medical service response times fast, but it also helps keep local property insurance rates lower.
But we now are falling behind in several key areas. Lately, it seems, too many elected officials claim to be public safety supporters, but act differently in private. In other words, they stand with us at parades and memorial services, but undercut our police and fire departments at city hall.
Because Lubbock firefighter pay is no longer competitive, we are losing highly trained, experienced firefighters to other cities. This was not always the case, however. Our city council has not lived up to a 2006 resolution to keep our police officers and firefighters in the top-10 salary range – a commitment that essentially equals our city size, the 10th largest in the state, according to the most recent census.
Firefighter pay in Lubbock now lags comparable Texas fire departments by 25 to 30 percent. Other Texas cities now recruit our police officers and firefighters with offers of sign-on bonuses, higher wages and other incentives. This loss not only creates a continuous cycle of training new firefighters only for them to leave after a few years, but also creates a safety issue for the citizens as well as our tenured firefighters.
In an April 6 letter, we urged the city manager to further invest in the long-term strength of the fire department by raising our wages to help recruit new firefighters and retain the ones we have. This pay raise would bring us closer to honoring the 2006 council resolution, allow us to better compete for quality firefighter applicants, while also addressing the safety issue created by losses of trained firefighters and prospective ones.
In our letter to the city, we also requested additions of much-needed positions in our training, medical and fire marshal divisions. These positions are necessary for a department of our size and will ensure that our members are adequately trained to meet the needs of our citizens and fellow firefighters. The additions, for example, will help us properly inspect new construction throughout Lubbock, while still maintaining the high fire safety standards we have in central Lubbock.
So far, our requests of the city have not been answered.
Some might wonder why firefighters ask now for more support from city leaders, especially as we all work to put the COVID-19 pandemic behind us. First, Lubbock, like many other Texas cities, can afford the investment now, Second, our requests are consistent with national safety standards. Third, our performance during the pandemic shows we are truly committed partners with the city and the people we serve.
During the past two years, our job responsibilities expanded dramatically. We staffed city call centers, fielding calls from concerned citizens and taking reports of possible COVID-19 infections when the health department could not respond to the initial surge. We also provided 2,650 hours of contact tracing. Then, when a state mandate required testing of nursing home residents, we administered 4,000 tests locally.
Once vaccines were available, we administered 89,265 injections of COVID‐19 vaccines, roughly 73 percent of all doses administered by the city. During this time, we responded to 2,827 medical calls for patients with suspected COVID-19 infections and treated 1,126 patients confirmed to be infected with the virus.
Lubbock firefighters also distributed over 3.5 million items of vital PPE to area agencies. To help mitigate and prevent infection, Lubbock firefighters performed 5,130 emergency vehicle disinfections at a cost savings of approximately $2.5 million to taxpayers.
Even as our fire department was called on to do more than ever before, many of our firefighters battled COVID-19 infections themselves. Quarantines and viral illness ran rampant through the fire department, but no fire station ever closed, and our fire trucks always met minimum, national safety-standard staffing levels.
Lubbock firefighters did not just step up recently. We have been committed to the city for generations.
Firefighters worked hard to help achieve a coveted “ISO 1” rating for the city. This designation lowers property owners’ insurance rates and opens the door to new commercial and industrial companies coming to our city. We also participate in many civic events. Each year, we provide thousands of meals for city employee picnics and United Way campaign lunches.
In support of the city we also are consistent leaders in local United Way contributions. Besides our philanthropic endeavors with the city, Lubbock firefighters have raised or donated more than $1 million to charities.
Most importantly, we will be there when citizens call, serving anyone in need and meeting our obligations as public servants. We are grateful for the support of Lubbock citizens. Now, all we ask is that our elected officials do the same by properly maintaining our fire department and supporting our efforts to recruit new members and keep those we already have. We stand ready to meet our city leaders and find ways to keep our fire department strong.
Joseph Wallace is president of the Lubbock Professional Fire Fighters Association.
Alice J. Roden started working for Trending Insurance News at the end of 2021. Alice grew up in Salt Lake City, UT. A writer with a vast insurance industry background Alice has help with several of the biggest insurance companies. Before joining Trending Insurance News, Alice briefly worked as a freelance journalist for several radio stations. She covers home, renters and other property insurance stories.