Starting July 1, Cambria will have three fewer firefighters.
“To be losing them, it’s heartbreaking,” said Chief Michael Burkey, Cambria Fire Department.
The department has four personnel on duty at all times, working three different shifts. They will soon be losing one firefighter for each of those three shifts. One of those firefighters is also a paramedic.
"We have to maintain a paramedic on duty at all times, every day, at least one paramedic, so if we lose one of those paramedics, that becomes even more difficult to maintain adequate staffing,” Chief Burkey said.
“It makes me more concerned, but we are always concerned. Here, it’s a constant topic of conversation in the area,” Cambria resident Rob Borstelmann said of the fire danger in the area.
Those three firefighters were federally funded by the FEMA grant program, SAFER (Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response).
“What they are meant to do is bring in additional staffing in hopes that the agencies will be able to, during that time, find funding to maintain that staffing level,” Burkey said.
The grant lasts three years, and the fire department has utilized the program twice. After applying back in October, they were denied. The department is hoping for the best with the next round of applications.
“But we’ve had it in place for so long now, FEMA will typically shift to other agencies that need additional staffing as well,” Burkey said.
The fire chief says response times won’t be impacted, but response capabilities will.
“Each one of those firefighters has a certain responsibility on that fire, and if that fourth person isn’t there now, those other three will have to fill that role,” Burkey said.
“Anytime that we are losing people, resources, equipment, or things like water, it becomes more dangerous for us here,” Borstelmann added.
Chief Burkey says they are constantly looking for new funding sources.
“Being a special district, those funding sources are very limited,” he said.
