By Jon Avise
The South Washington County Bulletin
COTTAGE GROVE, Ore. — Being one of Cottage Grove’s 45 part-time firefighters or emergency medical responders is a tough job as it is, fire chief Bob Byerly said. With calls on the rise and staffing levels and retention rates falling, balancing part-time public safety work and full-time jobs and families has gotten more difficult.
And on top of it all — working the overnight shift with no place to lie down? That, officials, say, might be another piece driving crucial part-time emergency personnel away and hurting emergency response time.
That’s why, in an effort to entice more part-timers and hold on to the ones already employed, Cottage Grove Public Safety is seeking federal stimulus dollars to give its emergency responders a seemingly basic amenity — a place to sleep on those long, late-night shifts.
Full story: Public safety officials applied for roughly $250,000 in assistance