Columbia-Richland County fire trucks are now fully staffed after the firefighters union claimed that short staffing was putting firefighters and some neighborhoods in danger.
Fire Chief Aubrey Jenkins confirmed the trucks now are fully staffed, and he hasn’t yet needed to cut in other areas.
“We’re going to leave it like this and then reevaluate,” he said.
In the meantime, he will try to convince Richland County Council members to restore some of the nearly $2 million they shorted the department in this year’s budget — a decision he said caused the under staffing.
“We’re going to have a conversation,” he said.
But if those negotiations don’t bear fruit, he might have to go back to short staffed trucks.
The five short-staffed engines were a result of underfunding by the Richland County Council, Columbia Richland Firefighters Association president Jacob Eller said last week.