While much has been made about the understaffed Great Bend Police Department recently, the Great Bend Fire Department has also been operating with a shortage in firefighters.

Recently retired Fire Chief Mike Napolitano said the department paid 1,856 hours of overtime in 2016 to maintain the minimum staffing levels. Looking for a way to add firefighters in a tight budget, Napolitano applied for a grant through the Federal Emergency Management Agency in February.

Great Bend Mayor Dr. Mike Allison announced at Monday’s Great Bend City Council meeting that the city was awarded the grant to hire additional firefighters.

Mike Allison Audio

The Great Bend Fire Department was turned down for the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grant last year, but will receive funds to hire three new employees this year. The grant lasts three years with 75 percent of the employee expenses covered for the first two years, and 35 percent covered in year three. Great Bend will have to provide 25 percent the first two years and 65 percent the final year of the grant. These three additional firefighters will raise the number of personnel on each of the three shifts from eight to nine.

Great Bend will have to decide if they want to keep the three firefighters following the grant assistance when the expense is fully on the city. The personnel expense for three firefighters is $123,222 plus $51,027 in benefits, equaling out to $174,249 each year. Great Bend’s share the first two years will be $43,563. The federal grant was worth $322,359 over three years.

The city council also approved the addition of one position at the Fire Department in the 2018 budget.