There will soon be more firefighters battling blazes in Roanoke Rapids.
Fire Chief Stacy Coggins said the department has elected to reorganize, which will put an additional firefighter on the truck, rather than replacing retired Deputy Fire Chief Mike Clements, who retired at the end of June.
“We felt the department was more efficient this way,” Coggins said. “But this is really kind of on a trial basis until I retire. Whoever becomes the new chief will assess whether it’s effective or not and whether we need to take a person back off the truck and put them back in the office.”
The restructuring allows the department to place nine people on each of the department’s three firefighting shifts, bringing the total number of on-the-ground firefighters to 27.