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Paducah Fire Department Seeks Funding for Staffing

Paducah Fire Department Seeks Funding for Staffing
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By Easton Sanders
May. 29, 2020 | PADUCAH
By Easton Sanders May. 29, 2020 | 07:05 PM | PADUCAH
The Paducah Board of Commissioners have approved a grant application to the Federal Emergency Management Agency for fire department funding.

During a recent Paducah City Commission meeting, city commissioners voted on and approved a municipal order to apply for a Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response grant for $767,836.17 through the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The move is an effort to help the Paducah Fire Department hire an additional three firefighters.

In a May 21 issue of The Infogram, from fema.gov, acting Secretary of Homeland Security, Chad Wolf, has waived the cost, position cost limit, supplanting, and minimum budget requirements for this year's SAFER grant applicants due to economic hardships. This has provided a great opportunity for communities to apply in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

West Kentucky Star spoke with Fire Chief, Steve Kyle, about the application.

Kyle says the Paducah Fire Department currently has 60 firefighters that are split between three shifts. The grant will allow them to hire three additional firefighters, bringing them to 21 firefighters per shift. The funds from the grant will cover the cost of the three new firefighters for three years.

According to Kyle, the additional staff will improve efficiency and safety.

"We have more tasks to complete than we have people right now. Every single employee we have matters and helps us to accomplish that." Kyle continued, "Each set of hands is critical to the accomplishment of a task in a timely manner. Each response that we make has to be timely."

Kyle says he expects it to be late this fall, or early next year before they receive a response to the application.

Although they have more tasks than people right now, he says this doesn't mean they're not getting the job done as it currently stands.

He said, "This does not mean to paint a picture that we're not getting the job done, because we are. But we are not as efficient and effective as we could be. This will help in that efficiency and effectiveness, and also the timeliness of putting the necessary people on the scene that we need."

The additional firefighters are part of their goal of reaching the National Fire Protection Association standard, which recommends 69 firefighters.
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