Starkville FD finds itself being short on staff
STARKVILLE, Miss. (WCBI) – It’s a common theme in law enforcement and emergency service agencies, finding and keeping good people continues to be a struggle.
That’s proving true in Starkville, too.
Starkville Fire Chief Charles Yarbrough spoke to a group of Starkville and Oktibbeha County business and community leaders September 16,
While he was quick to point out that he has a well trained and well equipped department, he also said they often hire and train firefighters only to have them move on to higher paying agencies.
In times past Yarbrough said he would have 30 or more applicants for four or five positions.
These days, he often has more open positions than applicants.
“We have a great department here. We’re very well trained. We have nice equipment, some of the best equipment in the state, some of the best trucks. But, the money is not there right now. I know the board is working on that, so kudos to them on working hard. That’s up where we need to be; but right now, we’re not there, and we’re actually losing good people to other departments because we’re not paying what we need to be paying”, said Yarbrough.
This has also been a busy year for Starkville Fire. Chief Yarbrough said they have battled 37 structure fires so far this year.
That’s 10 more than they fought in all of 2023.
