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Searcy firefighters training here, leaving for better pay elsewhere
By Tim Bousquet
The Daily Citizen
Sunday, April 18, 2004 12:43 AM CST
Firefighter Jason Knife has nothing but praise for the Searcy Fire Department, but when he looked at his own career path he decided he could no longer work there. He now works with the North Little Rock Fire Department.
"Searcy's the best place I've ever been," he said. "I loved it here, but you've got to look at your future and cut your losses."
After five years and a promotion with the Searcy Fire Department, Knife was making $24,013 a year as a driver. At North Little Rock he was hired as an entry level firefighter and paid $25,120.
"I got a $1,000 raise just for walking through the door," he said.
But considerations of insurance costs and retirement benefits played just as much a role in the young family man's decision to leave the Searcy department as pay issues did.
When his wife Jennifer lost her job as a a production operator at ITT, it confirmed for Knife that he had made the right decision.
"If I had to pay $412 to include her on my insurance, I just couldn't make it," he said. "The cost here in North Little Rock is only $86 a month, and so we don't have to worry about that."
Jennifer Knife is now taking classes at Pulaski Community College in North Little Rock with the aim of becoming a dental assistant.
As for retirement, Knife saw the Searcy department as a dead end.
Several years ago the state-wide retirement system changed its formula. Previously, firefighters could retire after 20 years of service, regardless of their age. Under the new system, however, they must work either 28 years or be 55 years old before the can retire with full benefits, which are based on a percentage of the highest pay level the firefighter received while working.
"The problem with Searcy is that Captain Reed is the last one on the old system," Knife said. "After he retires, all the top positions are going to be filled by people who are so young they're going to be around for a while.
"And the pay is so bad in Searcy that even after they're there for 28 years, they still won't be able to retire at that pay, so they'll stay until they're 55.
"That means that everyone down the line will be locked into a low wage. At North Little Rock, I'm guaranteed a raise every year for five years, even if I don't get a promotion, and I'll top off at $42,000. That's double what they'll get at Searcy. And that's what my retirement benefits will be based on."
Knife still lives in Searcy, but sees even the commuting costs as part of the bargain.
"I'm driving down there 10 days a month," he said. "But with the amount of time I was called in for off-duty response in Searcy, it kind of weighs out my drive time."
Knife works the same 24/48 schedule - 24 hours on duty followed by 48 hours off - as he did in Searcy, but with the exception of very large commercial fires, he is rarely called to work during his off-duty hours.
In contrast, the Searcy Fire Department doesn't have enough staff to fight structure fires without paging its off-duty staff.
"Sure, we got paid overtime for the off-duty response, but it was in comp time. I'd work two hours and be given three hours comp time, but what good is that? I asked them, 'Do you think Entergy will take a check for comp time?'"
Like most Searcy firefighters, Knife worked a part-time job to supplement his firefighting income. He continues to work with his father installing floor covering, but said the pressure is off.
"If a job falls through, I'm not worried about it, where before I would make calls around trying to sell to someone. We lost a job last week, and we spent the day cleaning my father's boat and hanging out in the yard."
Knife keeps in close touch with the Searcy firefighters and considers them his friends. In January the relationship became even more intimate when his parents' Stonybrook home caught fire.
"The fire started over the garage," he said. "Lt. Brian Dunavan came in on the hose line and made a great stop. I don't know who else was there, but they kept it out of the house, saved my parents' home and all their possessions.
"But they didn't stop there. I was over at the house helping to clean up, and for the next few days after the fire the guys were stopping by, asking if we needed anything, just checking in on my parents.
"They're a great group of guys. They're just not getting treated right."
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