CLEVELAND, Tenn. (WDEF)- Bradley County firefighters are asking their county commission to increase their pay.
Currently, the starting salary of a Bradley County Fire Rescue member is only $38,000.
For comparison, Chattanooga firefighters have a starting salary of $56,000 , and Cleveland firefighters start at $50,000.
They also state their equipment is outdated compared to other departments, and that they need increased investment to ensure quality service in the future.
Lt. Noah Cripe of Bradley County Fire Rescue said, “Many of our guys are struggling every day just to get up and go to work… even though this may seem like a joke this is the reality for our firefighters. We put Arby’s, Aldi’s, and Publix in there. At Arby’s an experienced crew meme we is at $39,000. Aldi’s is at $36,000 as a starting cashier, and that’s without the heartache with running these calls, seeing these terrible things.”
Firefighters are asking for the starting pay to go up to a little over $48,000.
The Bradley County Commission will have to decide on these issues at a future meeting.
