MILLINGTON, Tenn. — The city of Millington is worried it may have to close down at least one firehouse because there won’t be enough firefighters to work there.
Turns out, many of the city’s firefighters are applying to work in Memphis.
This shift could impact public safety.
The Millington fire chief says if those firefighters leave the department, that means one station would close on a temporary basis.
“We would be losing experienced personnel,” Chief Gary Graves said.
Graves says at least nine firefighters in his department applied for jobs with the Memphis and Atoka fire departments. If they leave, it would take about three months to fill those positions.
“We’re kind of in a wait and see position right now to see how many vacancies we may have and what kind of impact that would have on us,” he said.
If Millington loses that many firefighters, Graves says he wouldn’t hesitate to ask Shelby County’s fire department for help.
Graves says it’s hard for small cities like Millington to compete with bigger ones.
“We want to keep them here but unfortunately we can’t be as competitive in wages and that’s kind of what it boils down to,” he said.
Graves says it’s too early to know which station would close temporally. He expects to know for sure in the next month if those firefighters are staying or leaving.
City manager Christopher Dorsey reached out to city leaders about possible changes to the department.
“We’re trying to look ahead and trying to be proactive. We just had briefed the board and mayor and alderman on this possible issue at a work session a little over a week ago,” he said.
The city has some big decisions to make.
Dorsey and Graves say there are discussions about possibly getting firefighters higher salaries so Millington can compete with other departments.