Prairie Grove Fire Department Fills Full-Time Positions

Prairie Grove City Council last week agreed to a request from fire Chief J.C. Dobbs to fill two open full- time positions with a rotation of part-time firefighters from Springdale and Fayetteville fire departments.

Dobbs has lost two firefighters to higher paying jobs at other fire departments. A long-time firefighter recently retired and a current employee was moved into that position, leaving one open spot. That person left to work for Springdale and the firefighter hired to replace him then resigned to join Fayetteville’s fire department, leaving Prairie Grove with two open positions.

“Young people just out of the fire academy wait for opportunities to test for Fayetteville,” Dobbs said last week. “We’re a smaller department and a stepping stone to larger departments. There’s more potential for advancement in Fayetteville.” Dobbs has been using a rotation of firefighters from Springdale and Fayetteville for the past month and said it has worked well.

City Council members also agreed to increase the pay for a part-time firefighter position from $14 an hour to $15.50/ hour to make the position more attractive.

Full-time firefighters in Springdale and Fayetteville work 24 hours on and 48 hours off. These firefighters can work for Prairie Grove during their off days.

By using firefighters on a rotating, part-time basis, the city will save on health benefits and pension benefits, Dobbs said.

With the changes, Dobbs said he will have two firefighters at the station seven days a week. Weekdays, firefighters will be on duty 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. and on weekends the coverage will be 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Prairie Grove has 23 volunteers on its department roster.