ROSWELL, Ga. — The city of Roswell has a unique distinction. It's the largest city in the state without a full-time fire department. The city has long relied on part-time staff, but that’s changing.
To put this into perspective, smaller cities like Sandy Springs and Marietta have full-time fire departments. Transitioning from a part-time department to full-time will increase safety response times for Roswell's 100,000 residents.
“We’ve known for 20 years that we need to make that transition to a full time fire department," Mayor Kurt Wilson said.
One issue, highlighted by the pandemic, is some part-timers have obligations to other cities.
“This is their second job," explained Mayor Wilson. "That began to be more complicated and harder to get people served here. So, COVID really exposed that."
While part-timers were putting out physical fires, leaders were putting out metaphorical ones, especially in a city that often hosts large events like the popular Alive in Roswell, better known to some as Alive After Five.
“We try to cover the best that we can with the units we have available but that certainly makes me uneasy as fire chief when we have those big events," Fire Chief Joe Pennino said.
So, as part of a five-year plan, the Roswell Fire Department will expand to full-time. Step one started Tuesday afternoon, as the mayor, fire chief, and city council members officially swore in 19 employees; some of who’ve been with the department more than 20 years.
“It’s making that commitment between you and me that compact between you and the people that you serve," said Wilson.
Step two is nearing completion, as the department has hired 21 new fire captains who are currently in training. They will swear in with the city after six weeks. Steps three and above consist of getting more people suited up.
“What that looks like is 114 full time fire professionals added to the city of Roswell," Chief Pennino said.
The math just makes sense -- with 100,000 plus Roswell residents and growing,
“When the weekends roll around or holidays, we have a hard time maintaining that consistent staffing, so we have to put some of our apparatus out of service," said Chief Pennino. "Whether that be rescue trucks or truck companies or heavy rescue, we have to put those out of service because we can’t staff them.”
But soon, they will have the full-time staff they need and with it quicker response times and lower insurance rates for homeowners.
Another part of this involves the voters, as a $52 million bond referendum is on the November ballot. If approved, that money would go to renovating four fire stations and creating a public safety center that would house fire, police, 911, and EMS under one roof.