The town is gearing up to staff its two fire stations with full-time staffers, transitioning from part-time and volunteers who once chased the firetrucks in private vehicles to the fires.
The new Cornelius Town budget, which was approved on June 18, includes $186,930 to initiate the transition from part-time to career firefighters.
As of June 18, the Cornelius Fire Department was staffed by 78 active members: 68 are part-timers and 10 are volunteers. It will take years before the department is staffed with strictly career firefighters and, even then, there may be a place for part-timers and volunteers. A town-commissioned study released last year by the Center for Public Safety Management, based out of Washington, D.C., detailed the shortcomings of the current system.