Superior City Council Votes to Add 3 More Firefighters

Fire Department will now have a total of 40 firefighters

SUPERIOR, Wis. – The Superior City Council voted to approve the addition of three firefighter positions.

Fire Chief Steve Panger tells us his department will now be fully staffed for the first time in more than a year.

With these additions, Superior will now have a total of forty firefighters. That will bring staffing back to the way it was from 2013-2017.

In those years, a Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response, or SAFER, grant paid for six more Superior firefighters. The grant funding ended in 2017.

The city funded three positions to stay on, but have been without three firefighters since.

Tuesday’s unanimous city council vote funded those three positions for this year.

Panger tells us this allows all the city’s fire engines to be fully staffed.

“You could really see in a direct way the impact they immediately had and of course we saw those leave the department after the funding ran out and again you could immediately feel the impact,” said Panger recalling the impact the grant had on staffing.

The three new firefighter will cost the city $270,000 per year.

Most of this year’s cost will be funded with the Oil Pipeline Terminal Tax revenue, but city officials say they haven’t determined what will fund those positions in 2020 and beyond.