In an update from Bemidji Fire Chief Justin Sherwood, staffing continues to be a concern.
The department now has 11 paid-on-call member vacancies with the potential to have a few more by the end of the year.
Sherwood believes that the city and its rural fire partners need to consider adding more firefighters.
A SAFER grant, he says, would pay 100 percent of a firefighter’s wage for three years.
The BFD recently received its preliminary ISO rating for 2023, the data will be reviewed and the results discussed in a future meeting.
