First responders await pay raises from city while staying loyal to Yuma

UPDATE: The city hopes to implement pay raises in July 2019, if approved by City Council.

ORIGINAL

Pay raises for Yuma first responders have been at the forefront of city talks for months.

Both Yuma Police and Yuma Fire have midpoint salaries close to 10 percent less than cities that are part of the Phoenix metropolitan area.

Police will not see a plan from the city until January as News 11 reported Thursday. Firefighters are expected to follow suit.

The Yuma fire department is one of the lowest paid agencies in the state of Arizona, according to Yuma fire department.

“You’re dealing with people who are often on the worst day of their life and often on the last day of their life,” said Mike Erfert, YFD.

It’s a reality for first responders.

Captain John Whitson and Colt Pelfrey are Yuma firefighters and joined the department because they like to help people.

“I was born and raised here in Yuma. All my family lives here,” explained Captain Whitson, YFD.

Whitson has served the Yuma community for 19 years. One rookie firefighter new to the force said he sticks around for the same reason.

“I was born and raised in Wellton, right over the mountains. Growing up my brothers have always been firefighters. That’s when I decided I want to be a career firefighter and Yuma’s the holy grail here in the valley,” said Pelfrey, YFD.

The two firefighters plan to stick around and help the Yuma community, but that’s not the case for all.

This year alone three firefighters have left the department for reasons other than retirement, according to Yuma Fire.

13 years ago, Yuma Fire claimed it was unheard of for a firefighter to leave the department.

“We don’t want to lose people to them, we want to gain people from them,” said Erfert.

In the meantime, Pelfrey explained the recognition he receives from the community is worthwhile.

“Just the other day we had somebody bring us a card and some sweets. It was a fire call that we ran to her house. Her house was on fire, we put it out. It was a save. It wasn’t even in our area, it was in the counties. It was a rural metro call and we assisted them,” said Pelfrey.

Police won’t see a plan from the city until January as News 11 reported Thursday. Firefighters are expected to follow suit.