The Imperial Beach Fire Department is operating with a 25% vacancy rate, according to the firefighters union as officials work to recruit new firefighters while responding to a growing number of emergency calls.
The Imperial Beach Firefighters Association, IAFF Local 4692, has a recruitment video pinned on its Instagram in hopes of attracting new applicants. The union says fewer firefighters are responding to more calls, creating additional strain on the department.
“Our crews are committed — we show up every day and serve this community without hesitation — but the staffing shortage affects response times, firefighter safety, and the level of service our residents deserve,” John Olsen, Local 4692 President, said in a statement.
“We’re so short‑staffed right now that we don’t even have personnel available to participate in interviews like this,” he added.
The agency is budgeted 12 positions. Three personnel have left within the last year, including a fire captain, a fire engineer, and a firefighter, and their positions remain unfilled. Two of them accepted jobs with other fire agencies, said Fire Chief John French.
“We’ve got people working overtime and picking up other shifts to cover that,” French said. “It does put a strain on them and makes it hard.”
Emergency calls have increased by nearly 50% over the past 10 years, according to the Imperial Beach Firefighters Association, from about 1,700 to about 3,000 a year. During that same period, the union says 14 firefighters have left for other agencies, exceeding the number of firefighters currently employed by the department.
The union said pay is the biggest factor, arguing that recruits earn 33% less than the county median.
“We’re a small, single station department so they’ll go to other cities that have gotten either big pay raises or more opportunities,” French said.
French said the city works to remain competitive with surrounding departments.
“The city works to get everybody to the median, as soon as they get to that median, other departments get pay raises, it’s always a catch up game,” French said.
“This didn’t happen overnight,” Olsen said. “It’s the result of years of missed opportunities to recruit, retain, and support firefighters. We’ve lost experienced personnel, we haven’t filled key positions, and we’re now at a point where the workload is unsustainable.”
The union says three candidates recently turned down job offers, while two others are currently moving through the hiring process.
French said the city and department are continuing their efforts to retain and recruit firefighters.
“The city and the fire department, we’re doing everything we can to keep our firefighters here,” French said. “We may not be able to match some of the salaries, but some of the things we have here, health benefits, a sauna and cold plunge for everybody,” French said.
“Our hope is that the city takes this seriously. Imperial Beach is growing, our call volume is growing, and our staffing needs to grow with it,” Olsen said.
French said he is actively working to fill the vacancies. He also said that since the COVID-19 pandemic, he has seen more candidates who have not yet completed the fire academy. If hired, that training process takes between 10 and 16 weeks.
This story was originally reported for broadcast by NBC San Diego. AI tools helped convert the story to a digital article, and an NBC San Diego journalist edited the article for publication.