ROSWELL, Ga. — Editor's note: This story has been updated to better reflect the amount of money firefighters are receiving.
The Roswell Fire Department is working on its five-year transition from part-time to full-time employees. They're making sure firefighters are paid well by approving a huge pay raise to offer some of the most competitive salaries in the area.
They help keep the community safe, and now full-time firefighters are getting rewarded for that with a boost in pay.
"We found that most of our surrounding agencies have increased their pay within the last year. On average, our pay ranges, we're about 23% behind the North Fulton Market," Roswell Fire Chief Joe Pennino said.
Pennino made his case for the raises at a city council meeting this week.
"They've also reduced response times to emergencies, as you may have seen in the news by over a minute since last year," Pennino said.
Council gave the green light for 42 current firefighters and captains and 25 new full-time fire employees to receive an average 35% raise.
"I've been here 22 years, sleeping well at night, knowing if I had a fire crisis or anything, any kind of crisis and call 911, I knew that fire and PD, both agencies, would take all measures to get to me or my family and my neighbors," Councilwoman Lee Hills said.
The pay raises will cost taxpayers about $500,000 a year and go into effect Oct. 1.
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