Fairfield fire staffing approaching crisis due to shortage of part-time firefighters Sue Kiesewetter View Comments FAIRFIELD – A shortage of qualified part-time firefighters is prompting city officials to beef up its career fire department staff at a faster pace than it had planned to. That could mean a fire levy to pay for those firefighters as early as next year even if the city receives the SAFER – Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response – grant it applied for earlier this year. Fire Chief Don Bennett said the city has less than a 50-50 chance of being awarded the grant because it has turned down those grants in the past.