Unanimous support around adding more officers, firefighters in Fernandina Beach (Courtesy of First Coast News) — The Fernandina Beach fire and police departments are always there for residents in any kind of emergency. But, to keep a full staff of personnel has always been an issue, according to Fire Chief Ty Silcox.
“Out of all the years that I’ve been the chief, we’ve been working to increase that staffing number,” Silcox told First Coast News.
Yes, there are firefighters to put out flames. However, it’s been difficult to have enough firefighters cover for others when they’re off, thus encouraging the Fernandina Beach Fire Department to apply for a $1 million federal grant that will fund new firefighters and allow current employees to decrease working overtime.
“If they’re showing up to your emergency, you don’t want to have people that have been working and been on-duty for 40-72 hours,” Silcox said.
The same sentiment expressed by Silcox, applies to police officers in the city. Although Police Chief Jeff Tambasco says the Fernandina Beach Police Department is in good shape, he wants to apply for the $300,000 grant to protect his current and future employees from burnout.
“We’ve reallocated personnel to help alleviate the overtime being spent on backfilling shifts, but we understand there is a work-life balance,” Tambasco said.
Tambasco says the police department will use the grant money to grow the number of officers to 40, therefore helping offset costs to taxpayers.
“As the island continues to grow, as our visitor population continues to grow, we need to start building for the future,” Tambasco said.
Tambasco further explained to First Coast News how a new officer won’t actually start patrolling until six to 10 months after their first day.
“And it takes a considerable amount of time to hire a police officer, get that police officer trained, and get them into a solo status,” Tambasco added.
Both departments are currently in the grant application phase, and said that they will hear back in the upcoming months if they receive the funding.