Raleigh Fire Chief John McGrath says his department will need 60 new firefighters, three platoon EMS coordinators, a training captain, an inventory specialist and three additional battalion chiefs to keep up with growing demand, but he’s willing to forgo it all for another year if it means his firefighters get raises.
The budget proposal McGrath sent to City Manager Ruffin Hall shows the fire department expects 911 calls to rise 3.7 percent in the coming year, to about 41,000. But McGrath says he won’t press for new staff until the fiscal year that begins July 1, 2018, because he wants to ensure that firefighters get paid better this year.