Retention issues at Hannibal Fire Department put heat on Hannibal City Council

HANNIBAL — The Hannibal City Council is set to vote at its meeting Tuesday night on an ordinance that would expand firefighter age requirements to help curb longstanding retention issues at the Hannibal Fire Department (HFD).

Hannibal Fire Chief Ryan Neisen proposed the ordinance at the council’s last meeting in January that would lower the age requirement for incoming firefighters from 21 to 18 years old and extend the requirement from 36 to 40 years old. 

“The purpose of this is to expand our hiring pool and try to gain more applicants and potential firefighters,” Neisen said at the meeting. “Currently, we have two people who are qualified to be hired, but they are 20 years old. They’re basically waiting for their 21st birthday.”

Steven Meyer, president of the International Association of Fire Fighters Local 1211, said the department has lost 41 people since he joined in 2017. Eleven departures have occurred since Jan. 1, 2024, and seven were within the last two months. 

Meyer was frank in his response when asked what the cause of the retention problem was.

“Well, to not beat around the bush, it’s about money,” Meyer said. “Hannibal (Fire Department) starts at $40,000 (for salaries), and it’s not competitive with any of the other offering departments in the area.”

In addition to the low pay rate, insurance rates have increased.

“Even if the money rate was fine, guys who have family insurance took a $200 pay cut because they’re paying out $200 more per month for insurance,” Meyer explained.

The starting salary at the Quincy Fire Department will increase to $57,583.24 on May 1, up from last year’s rate of $55,103.58. The amount will increase again in May 2026 to a little less than $60,000. 

Hiring announcements for multiple departments in the St. Louis area have been shared on social media, complete with base salary rates:

• Berkeley Fire Department, starting at $63,250;
• University City Fire Department, starting at $68,093;
• Frontenac Fire Department, starting at $74,074;
• and Brentwood Fire Department, starting at $74,328.

Regardless of why the base rate isn’t higher, the issue remains: Hannibal does not offer its firefighters what other departments are prepared to.

“They just simply can’t afford to work for (HFD). I would say that’s the biggest consensus of the guys who have left,” Meyer said. “They’ve left for higher paying careers, for departments that pay better.”

Meyer said one HFD employee will be retiring at the end of March. Two more are anticipated to leave the department this summer to work for the Quincy Fire Department. 

QFD Fire Chief Bernie Vahlkamp said five people working for his department came from Hannibal’s department. Three were hired in 2023. The other two have worked for the department for more than two decades since they were hired in the early 2000s.

Another HFD employee, assistant chief Shawn Smith, could also be leaving the department. He’s one of two final candidates being considered to replace Vahlkamp, who is retiring at the end of the month after more than 27 years with the department.

Meyer questions his own future with the HFD. While he has aged out of Quincy’s department, there are other options in the St. Louis area, as well as with his former career as an electrician with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.

“If there’s no future in sight, it’s perilous to stick around,” he said.

Meyer expressed at a June 2024 meeting the need for better communication between the department and city officials. He also warned the council that existing retention issues would likely get worse, noting that eight HFD employees are eligible for retirement during the 2024-2025 fiscal year, while 20 employees from Quincy’s department are eligible for retirement through summer 2026 — potentially leaving 20 spots to fill. 

Meyer said conversations with city officials about pay increases have been largely unsuccessful. He says city officials acknowledge the need but say the city doesn’t have the money to pay for it.

A salary increase of roughly 10 percent for firefighters and police was approved by the council in 2023. Following the approval, a public safety sales tax was proposed to support police and fire department funding, prompting the January 2024 introduction in the Missouri Legislature of House Bill 2290 — which would grant Hannibal the authority to enact such a tax for public safety. 

The bill appears to have stalled after a public hearing in February 2024. It is not on the House calendar, nor are there any hearings scheduled for it. 

The Local 1211’s collective bargaining agreement with the city says, “Full staffing at the Hannibal Fire Department shall consist of three 12-man crews and five administration personnel, which includes one civilian employee.”

Personnel numbers have fluctuated as new employees have come and gone, but Meyer estimated that the department has recently averaged about 30 employees. Instead of 12-man crews, the department often runs with 10.

“We’re at bare minimum every day, if not on overtime every day,” he said.

The International Association of Fire Fighters outlines the number of firefighters needed during an initial alarm deployment:

• Low hazard: 15
• Medium hazard: 28
• High hazard: 43

Since the firefighters’ work doesn’t generate revenue, Meyer said he understands it’s “a burden for the city to have a fire department to have to pay out money.” Forgoing the cost, however, jeopardizes the department’s ability to respond quickly and with adequate personnel “to keep catastrophic things at bay.”

“You’ve got to put a value on that at some point,” Meyer said. “Sometimes, you’ve got to bite the bullet and pay it, otherwise it goes downwards and then becomes a tragic event.”

Several social media posts indicate public support for increasing firefighter pay. A substantial crowd is anticipated to attend Tuesday night’s meeting. 

The council is set to vote on an ordinance pertaining to an expansion for the department, but it can only be measured in years and not dollars.

“Unfortunately, I don’t have the right answers. I wish I did, and I have a bunch of suggestions,” Meyer said. “But at the end of the day, I don’t get to make the decisions.”