The Lowndes County Commission voted Tuesday evening to hire more full-time paid firefighters for county fire services.
Lowndes County Fire Rescue depends largely on volunteer fire units scattered around the county, though there are a dozen full-time firefighters at Station 10, the headquarters site on U.S. 84, County Manager Paige Dukes said.
The commission approved a plan to add three more full-time positions.
“Adding three more (full-time) firefighters to Station 10 means they can add an extra man to each shift,” Dukes said, “making it possible for them to roll out two trucks to structure fires instead of just one.”
She said adding more full-time spots in no way lessens the department’s need for volunteers.
The annual cost of the three extra positions comes to $170,767.42; the cost for the nine months left in this fiscal year would be $128,075.58, according to county documents.