Firefighters paid well, but not overstaffed

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BY DEENA WINTER / Lincoln Journal Star

Two recent studies suggest Lincoln firefighters are paid well compared to their counterparts in other cities, but the city gets a lot of bang for its buck.

Annually, the fire department costs the city $97 per resident, a bargain compared to 19 cities included in one study and half the average in the pool of 10 cities in another.

Only Wichita, Kan., came in cheaper — by $1.

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Lincoln firefighters M.J. Nelson (from left), Dennis Clark and Kevin McCoy look out a bay that faces a gated section of the airport. (LJS file)

Lincoln firefighters M.J. Nelson (from left), Dennis Clark and Kevin McCoy look out a bay that faces a gated section of the airport. (LJS file)

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A recent study of Omaha’s fire and ambulance services by a consultant showed Lincoln firefighter and paramedic salaries were above average compared to eight other cities studied. However, Lincoln provided less vacation than average over the course of a career and had the lowest sick leave accrual rate.

And Lincoln had fewer staffers per square mile than the average among Arlington, Texas, Cincinnati, Colorado Springs, Colo., Kansas City, Minneapolis, St. Louis, Toledo, Ohio, Tulsa, Okla., and Wichita.

Lincoln also had the fewest calls for fire and ambulance service per capita, at 18,362 per year. Of those, 2,224 — 12 percent — were fire calls. Seventy-five percent were ambulance calls, higher than the average of 68 percent.

The study also found that Lincoln had fewer fire stations and fire engines per square mile, although it had slightly more firetrucks and fire staffers per square mile.

The local firefighters union recently received the results of a study by two professors at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. The head of the union, Dave Engler, said the union commissioned what he said was an unbiased study in response to allegations the fire department is bloated.

“We’d heard that we were this outrageously expensive agency,” Engler said. “We wanted to know what the truth was.”

Their study compared police and fire services in Lincoln to those in Omaha, St. Paul, Minn., Madison, Wis., Topeka, Kan., Wichita, Springfield, Mo., Colorado Springs, Sioux Falls, S.D., Des Moines, Iowa, and Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

The study showed Lincoln spends less money to run its fire department, per capita, than all of the cities except Wichita and less in general funds, per capita, than all of the other cities.

According to the 2005 data, Lincoln has a smaller number of fire employees than average, helping bring the cost per capita, per firefighter and per call substantially below average. It costs Lincoln nearly $97 per resident for fire service, compared to an average of more than $125. The annual cost of each Lincoln firefighter was $82,518, the average, $90,015.

And even though Lincoln has fewer fire employees covering the city, the study found that the amount of property lost to fires in Lincoln is also lower than the other cities, and response times quicker. Each fire call in Lincoln costs $1,256, compared to the study average of $1,544.

Engler said the study confirmed that Lincoln’s fire department is efficient.

“We’re not doing anything special here at the expense of the taxpayers,” he said.

City Councilman Jon Camp questions the study, since it was paid for by the union.

Even though Lincoln’s department might be efficient, Camp thinks it could shrink more. As proof, he says the department is able to survive when multiple firefighters on the local urban search-and-rescue team respond to national emergencies.

Reach Deena Winter at 473-2642 or dwinter@journalstar.com.