EXCLUSIVE: New Memphis fire chief talks firefighter pay raises, challenges, goals
Fire Chief Colin Burress has been employed with MFD since 1998
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WMC) - The Memphis City Council is set to take up firefighter pay raises again Tuesday after emotions flared during discussions two weeks ago.
At issue, a promised 2% percent raise that’s now at the center of a lawsuit.
The new chief in charge of the Memphis Fire Department gives his first interview on the topic to the Impact Team’s Jerry Askin.
“Colin Burress is a North Memphis kid, a product of North Memphis, product of Memphis,” said Chief Burress.
He told Action News 5 he can pinpoint the moment he knew as a child this is what he wanted to do.
“I kind of enjoyed seeing the fire trucks and the lights and all that kind of stuff,” said Chief Burress. “But, another thing was going to the fire stations and seeing the firefighters. And, it was right there by our Boys Club, right over in the Vollintine and Breedlove area. So, they were really nice. And I just said, ‘hey, one day I’d like to do that.’”
Burress is a former corrections officer and police employee. He joined Memphis Fire in 1998 and has served as Division Chief and Assistant Fire Chief.
Back in 2019 he was part of Tennessee Task Force One’s dispatch to Florida in response to Hurricane Dorian.
Mayor Paul Young appointed him chief just last month when former Chief Gina Sweat stepped down from her trailblazing role as head of the department after 9 years.
The father of four is also a licensed barber.
“I just cut my kids hair right now. I don’t have time to cut anybody else’s hair,” the chief said.
Much of his time lately has been consumed by the back-and-forth over firefighter pay raises.
Last year, the Memphis City Council unanimously approved a 5% raise then reduced it to 3%.
Since then, the Memphis Firefighters Association Local 1784 filed a lawsuit against the city demanding the 2% promised be restored.
On December 2, just three days before our interview with Chief Burress, the city council voted to delay discussing the 2% shortfall for two weeks.
Action News 5 Impact Team Anchor Jerry Askin asked Chief Burress if he believed his firefighters are underpaid.
“I can’t sit here and tell you we’re underpaid. What I can tell you is that we have a very high run volume, and each and every day we’re out in the streets, we’re going to continue to do the work, regardless,” Burress said. “With that, I’ve also heard their frustrations over the raise. You know, as the fire chief, you hear quite a few things. And, I know what they heard. They heard a commitment to the 5% last year. And I can also tell you, I have to respect because the city council has a responsibility to manage an already tight budget. So as fire chief, what I have to do now is go back, work with the mayor, his team, city council, and the labor union so that we can craft and produce a path forward, which basically is what is that sustainable solution to coming to a path forward that supports the men and women to keep our city safe on a daily basis.”
Jerry Askin: “But you do believe that your firefighters should be paid what they were promised?”
Chief Burress: “Yes, I believe our firefighters should be paid. Our firefighters should be paid because they are some of the best employees and personnel. I think we have one of the best departments across the nation. I’m not going to sit here and say that I don’t want to input my opinions into this because it’s a difficult and a very complex topic because you got other divisions that are, you know, they, everybody has a need. There’s only so much money out there, right? But I know we do a great job and are we deserving? Our people are deserving or whatever that we’re getting.”
Starting pay for a Memphis Fire recruit is $46,210 with salaries growing to just over $81,000 for third year firefighter/paramedics.
Firefighter starting salaries in other cities comparable to Memphis range from $43,517.48 in New Orleans to $60,486.40 in Birmingham, Alabama, and $61,665.00 in Nashville, Tennessee.
Askin asked Chief Burress if he believed the starting pay should be higher for Memphis firefighters.
“What I can say is what we do on a daily basis, the run volume, the things that we do, we’re asking, we ask a lot of our firefighters.”
MFD currently employs more than 1700 commissioned firefighters at 57 fire stations.
According to statistics published by the city on the city-run Public Safety dashboard - the department’s goal of reaching 70% of residential fire calls within 5-minutes, 20 seconds is near target.
“Our stated goal was 70%, but as we consistently hit and surpassed that target, we made a soft goal of 80% because we always want to be improving. 70% used to be the target. Now it is 80%. When we consistently hit that goal, we will increase the target,” a spokesperson for the fire department told Action News 5.
That’s according to the latest data released from November.
Meanwhile, also according to the dashboard, processing fire calls remain off track. The department’s target is 85% of fire calls within 106 seconds; their current rate is 65.49%
As the City Council prepares this week to decide on that outstanding 2% raise, Chief Burress said his goal is to offer support in all ways possible.
“You know, we’re often in the public and we’re meeting with the public on their worst day, you know, and we got to make sure that when they’re called out that our people are extremely confident, they’re prepared and they’re equipped to do what they need to do to mitigate the situation,” said Chief Burress. “You know, one of our challenges, the biggest challenge is, again, it’s going to be the support of our people. And I say that, and because right now, navigating the reality of being a Memphis firefighter or a Memphis fire employee. I mean, the things that we do each and every day, I mean, it’s things that the regular, like, people don’t do. we have to make sure that we’re supporting them the right way, giving them the right tools. And again, like I said, when we’re out here, it’s on people’s worst day.”
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