BIG SPRING, Texas — Big Spring has been losing firefighters ever since the Summer of 2023 when city council cut staffing from 74 to 64.
Communities like Midland, Lubbock and Reeves County are attracting their employees by being able to offer better pay.
This troubling trend looks like it will get worse before it gets better for the Big Spring Fire Department. Fire Station 2 was back open on Friday, but it has had to close five times since Christmas Eve due to those staff shortages.
"It's getting tough here," said Chanley Delk, a fire lieutenant for BSFD and the president of the Big Spring Professional Firefighters' Association.
Keeping the trucks running has never been tougher for the Big Spring Fire Department.
“Losing 20 firefighters in eight months is just something we’ve never seen before," Delk said.
Around 15 of those have gone to Midland.
BSFD could to be down 25 to 30 by the Spring, and with hiring a challenge as well, they’re working on solutions.
“I think in the future they’re looking at opening up to non-certified personnel," Delk said. "So, if you’re able-bodied, you’re 18 and you can pass a written and physical test, we’ll hire you and train you. And, I think that’s what we’re going to have to go to, to get some more energized, young men and women into the fire department.”
Delk has been with BSFD for 24 years, experience that knows all too well their financial shortcomings.
“Probably what we’ll have to do is we’ll have to take this to the citizens and the taxpayers and say ‘look, we’re way behind the market in terms of pay, in terms of benefits, we’re losing firefighters and we can’t replace them, so something’s got to give,'" Delk said.
While response times have not been impacted yet, the department is walking on thin ice.
"The other stations are probably going to be busier and then you’re dumping 25% more workload on top of them," Delk said. "There’s going to be a time when somebody’s going to call for services and they’re just not going to be available right then. We’ll do our best to respond to everything but there might be a delay.”
For the Big Spring Fire Department, support from the community will be needed.
“It’s bad, it’s a bad situation," Delk said. "For our citizens [who] are concerned, just know that we’re here for them. We want to be good stewards of the resources. We don’t want to raise anybody’s taxes, but some of these things we’ll have to spend money on going forward to provide the essential services that we provide. They are just costing more and more – everything does.”
Delk mentioned that they have tried to work with the city to be more competitive when it comes to pay and benefits, but that path has been unsuccessful. He added that if they have to close down a fire station, they want the public to know so that they don’t knock on a closed station’s door for help and rather them call 911.