To try and fill out the full-time ranks at the Brookfield Fire Department, township officials have made it possible to hire full-timers who have fewer qualifications than before.
The department had required that a firefighter be certified as a paramedic with Firefighter 2 training to be hired. However, the last time the department advertised – it has a full-time position open – no one with those credentials applied. The new three-year contract with the International Association of Firefighters Local 3443 allows the department to hire candidates who have only Firefighter 1 certification, or are emergency medical technicians.
“If no one applies, this opens it up to apply at a lower level,” Township Trustee Dan Suttles said.
Fire Chief David Masirovits and the fire union recommended the change, Suttles said.
However, new hires are required to achieve Firefighter 2 status within one year and paramedic certification within two years. The township agreed to help pay for this training.
“If they leave prior to that (earning the certifications), they have to compensate us back some of their training,” Suttles said.
The contract also stipulates that the department will have a paramedic working every shift, even if this means calling in one who was not supposed to be on duty, he said.
“We don’t want to offer a lower level of service to the community,” Suttles said.
The contract sets pay hikes of 8 percent in 2026, 5 percent in 2027 and 5.25 percent for 2028. Captains will make $23.79 an hour for a total wage of $65,080 in 2026; $24.97 an hour for $68,334 in 2027; and $26.29 an hour for $71,921 in 2028.
Firefighter-paramedics will make $21.62 an hour for $59,163 a year in 2026; $22.71 for $62,121 in 2027; and $23.90 an hour for $65,383 in 2028.
Firefighter-advanced EMTs will make $20.54 an hour for $56,205 in 2026; $21.57 for $59,015 in 2027 and $22.70 for $62,114 in 2028.
Firefighter-basic EMTs will make $19.46 an hour for $53,247 in 2026; $20.43 an hour for $55,909 in 2027; and $21.51 an hour for $58,844 in 2028.
New hires are to be paid at 80 percent of those rates in the first year of employment, 85 percent the second year, 90 percent the third year and 95 percent the fourth year. The township can bring on a new hire at a higher step based on qualifications and experience.
The contract also:
- Sets an annual bonus of $1,000 for basic EMTs, $1,500 for advanced EMTs and $2,000 for paramedics.
- Requires firefighters to pay an increasing share of their own contributions to the Police and Fire Disability Pension Fund until they are paying all of it in the third year. It has been a longstanding goal of the trustees to have employees pay their own share into their pension funds.
- Gives an employee a day off for his or her birthday, or a day near it.
- Gives new hires a personal day off no matter when they were hired.
- If an employee is called in on a holiday, he or she will be paid straight time plus 1.5 times their straight pay.
- Increases the amount of compensatory time that can be accumulated from 120 hours to 240, allows up to 240 hours to be carried over to the following year (up from 24), and sets a limit on the amount of compensatory time that can be cashed out in a year at 72 hours.
- Allows firefighters to be compensated for meals, incidentals and other expenses to attend pre-approved training.
