Berkeley County officials approved a compensation plan for paid firefighters to be employed at each of the county’s five fire departments starting the first quarter of 2019.
The Berkeley County Council unanimously approved the compensation schedule at its Thursday meeting. Councilman Jim Whitacre was not present for the vote.
The motion allows the county to start recruiting paid firefighters who are to start work in February of next year.
Based on the plan, the county will hire two 40-hour firefighters to be paid $38,882 and seven 56-hour firefighters will earn $44,850 a year.
“We’ll now move forward with the recruitment of two 40-hour firefighters, which are the firefighters that you approved as part of the general fund in the 2018-19 budget, and also recruit seven 56-hour firefighters to be placed at Baker Heights 24 hours, seven days a week, 365 days a year,” said Berkeley County Administrator Alan Davis, who crafted the compensation plan.