The city of Altoona hasn't even hired its first full-time fire chief yet, but the position already may be in line for a raise. Just four days after the top candidate from a previous search elected not to accept the job, the city's Personnel Committee voted unanimously Monday to increase the pay scale offered to the fire chief. The previous search, which had an application deadline of Dec. 30, attracted just 12 applicants. The city advertised the job as paying between $47,528 and $61,110 annually, depending on qualifications. Survey information collected by the Wisconsin State Fire Chiefs Association shows that the average chief salary for paid on-call fire departments in state cities with populations of less than 10,000 is $68,392.