Nationwide, both urban and rural areas are struggling to keep enough firefighters on call. A survey of Arizona firefighters found most want to stay in their jobs, but also had concerns about long hours and stressful working conditions. KNAU’s Melissa Sevigny spoke with the survey’s designer Dierdra Bycura, who studies firefighter health at Northern Arizona University.
Tell me about what you found from this survey, and maybe we’ll start with just: are firefighters contended with their work?
Well, yes, they actually are. Most respondents reported that they stay in the profession until retirement, and the number one reason is job security…. And most said they were satisfied with their benefits—so monetary base pay, pension and retirement benefits, paid sick leave… We also asked them a question: what is your motivation for continuing? And the number one reason that they cited as why they got into the profession in the first place, and why they stay, is a sense of purpose, and challenging and exciting work.
Okay, so it’s difficult work but it sounds like for most firefighters incredibly rewarding work as well.
Yes, definitely. We did find some differences between the urban and rural firefighters in their satisfaction with their base salary… Rural fire departments pay lower and oftentimes, like in the case of Prescott Valley and/or Flagstaff, we have high housing costs, and that’s of concern in keeping persons in the firefighting profession.
What else, what other challenges were brought up in the survey?
We found five or six factors impacting the turnover rate. They were—number one from rural were pay and benefits. The number one from urban firefighters were mental demands and stress of the job. They have sleep deprivation and challenges with the work schedule itself…. Another thing is they noted were impacts of the job on family life due to things like sleep deprivation and the scheduling.
What are the things that could be done to help address these challenges? Maybe more support for firefighters in terms of their mental health and the stress of their job?
The stakeholders of the Public Safety Personnel Retirement System and a working group and leaders of the employee group are working diligently to come up with recommendations to take to state legislators to unpack this and uncover what might be done. They’re taking into consideration things like shift schedules… taking a look at pay discrepancy across and between the 63 fire department sand districts, additionally looking at the call volume and the staffing…and the ability to hire more firefighters to address the need of mandatory overtime…. Our firefighters are there to help, and this profession is both physically and mentally demanding, and we need to listen, learn, and put systems into place to support persons who literally put their lives on the line to care for us.
Thank you so much for speaking with me today.
You’re very welcome.
Download the Arizona Fire Retention Survey here.
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Publish date : 2024-08-13 23:00:00
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