In the annual budget York Town Manager Steve Burns originally proposed was a $50,000 fund to be used to pay the town’s currently volunteer firefighters a minimum wage when they answer fire calls. A group of firefighters, led by York Village Fire Department corporation president and volunteer Stephen Carr, urged the town’s Budget Committee Thursday to double that amount.
He said at the Village FD alone, firefighters responded to 1,301 calls in 2017, representing 5,466 call hours. Had they been paid minimum wage of $11 an hour, he said that would amount to $60,126. And that does not include separate York Beach Fire Department calls, which neared 1,000 for the same period.
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He said an average firefighter typically has one or more jobs and a family at home. At all times, they keep their cars fueled “not only to take the kids to school but also to respond at a moment’s notice to an emergency.”
Being a firefighter, Carr said, “is not a hobby. And it’s not a job. The matter of fact is we are losing money every time we respond to a call. We’re using our own fuel and our own tools. We do this because we love to serve our community and help our fellow citizens in need. But we ask to be treated fairly.”
[York firefighters gather warm clothes for families affected by gas explosions]
South Berwick pays rank and file firefighters between $11 and $16 an hour, according to a chart he gave the committee; Kittery, between $14.40 and $15.48; Eliot, $12.
The committee agreed to the requested $100,000.
“It’s the right thing to do to compensate them for what they’re doing,” said Heather Campbell.
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