Faced

with dwindling daytime availability of volunteers

- and emergencies that are becoming more

complex - the Peachtree City Fire and Rescue

Department wants to increase its staff by six

firefighters.

Those

new positions would expand the daily shift from

10 persons to 12, said acting Fire Chief Stony

Lohr. That would help offset the increasing

unavailability of volunteer firefighters during

the day since most work outside of Peachtree

City, he said.

"Our

volunteers used to work and live in Peachtree

City, but now they've gone on to jobs in Atlanta

and at Hartsfield," Lohr said. "It's

not just Peachtree City that's having this

problem, either. It's a national issue."

similar circumstance applies to Lohr's full-time

firefighters, most of whom live outside of

Peachtree City. Should they be called in to

assist at a large fire or massive wreck, it will

take them a while to respond, Lohr said.

Only

five staffers with Peachtree City Fire and Rescue

actually live in Peachtree City, Lohr pointed

out. The others live at least 20 minutes away or

more, he added.

"We

have been using all the resources available to us

and we've been right on the edge," Lohr

said.

Adding

two firefighters per shift will also help the

city reduce its ISO rating, thereby lowering fire

insurance rates for local residents, Lohr said.

The department expects to have the lower rating

locked in by the end of this year after working

on the task for quite a while, he added.

More

manpower is needed on structure fires due to new

construction materials that are being used, the

chief said. Also, extricating passengers from

wrecked vehicles is more difficult because there

are fewer points of attack on newer vehicles,

Lohr added.

"That

all makes things more complex and it requires

more people to respond so we can get the things

done that must be done," Lohr said.

The

department was really taxed at a June fire on

Muirfield Way that was fed by natural gas

pipelines, Lohr said. Off-duty firemen were

called in since strong winds blew embers away

from the fire and started small fires elsewhere,

Lohr said.

"We

had some folks reach their personal limits, and

that made them more susceptible to injury,"

Lohr said.

The

department also responded to several medical

calls during that fire which reduced the amount

of manpower handling the blaze, Lohr added.