Mehlville Fire "In the News" : Still Burning

Still Burning

www.stltoday.com

Posted July 5, 2010

St. Louis firefighters are doing a slow burn over budget proposals that would eliminate about two dozen firefighter jobs, increase the number of hours they work and eliminate the extra pay that firefighters get for working nights.

City budgeteers say the cuts are necessary to help bridge a $46 million budget gap, caused in part by $5.9 million in increased pension costs for firefighters. The city says its average firefighter makes $58,000 a year, but the firefighters union says the average is closer to $47,000.

Either way, it's far less than some of the intrepid smoke-eaters earn fighting fires and making ambulance calls on the mean streets of places like Creve Coeur and Ellisville.

If city firefighters really want to burn, they should take a look at the latest edition of "Hotline," the online newsletter of the Mehlville Fire Protection District (www.mehlvillefire.com).

The newsletter updates figures compiled in 2004 by Post-Dispatch reporters Susan Weich and Elizabethe Holland. Their series, "Burning Through Tax Dollars," demonstrated that voter apathy had led to union control of many suburban fire districts. The results: Stunningly high salaries for firefighters who fight as many fires in a month as some city fire companies fight in a day.

Now Aaron Hilmer, who was elected as a reformer to the Mehlville Fire Board in 2005 and who now serves as its chairman, is stirring the pot again. He used the current edition of "The Hotline" to point out that Mehlville firefighters Ñ who earn an average of almost $88,000 a year Ñ are relative paupers compared to some of their suburban counterparts.

In the Creve Coeur Fire District, the average wage for a veteran firefighter with 15 years or more experience is $123,634. Along with that comes a benefit package worth $47,478 and 16 to 18 weeks of paid vacation and sick leave each year.

In the Pattonville Fire District, 15-year veterans earn $108,403 in salary, $41,946 in benefits and 12 to 14 week of vacation and sick leave.

In the Metro West district, the average salary for 15-year vets is $99,623. Benefits are worth another $37,374, and firefighters get 10 to 12 weeks of vacation and sick leave.

Though none of the districts disputed Mr. Hilmer's figures, Mehlville's firefighters issued a written apology to their union brothers in other districts for Mr. Hilmer's "vicious character attacks."

Having read Mr. Hilmer's newsletter, we can find no sign of character attacks, unless suggesting that $171,412 a year in pay and benefits is a tad excessive can be considered a personal attack.

"There is no way you can overpay a firefighter, paramedic or policeman," Ron Olshwanger, a member of the Creve Coeur fire board, told Ms. Weich last week.

Perhaps not, but in St. Louis, there is never any shortage of applicants for the city Fire Academy. Indeed, many would-be firefighters spend years in other city jobs just for the opportunity to get a leg up on the academy's application process.

Fighting fires in a big city is important work, dangerous, challenging and exciting, even though Ñ as the saying goes Ñ "It ain't Creve Coeur."

Supply and demand suggest that the residents of these suburban districts are getting hosed. If so, it's their fault. Fire district board election are held in April, and turnout is always ridiculously low. The firefighters count on it.

Posted in Editorial on Monday, July 5, 2010 12:00 am Updated: 5:55 pm. | Tags: St. Louis News, Missouri News, St. Louis Fire Departmen, Pay, Firefighter Pay, Fire Districts, Creve Coeur, Mehlville, Pattonville, Aaron Hilmer, Metro West