Manteca’s reserve firefighters may soon work for 56 percent less pay.

It is part of a reorganization that will double the ranks of the reserves from 10 to 20 to improve service to the community.

Currently reserve firefighters receive $9.50 an hour or $228 for a 24-hour shift. The proposed change would provide a flat $100 stipend for a 24-hour shift.

Other proposed changes include:
•requiring reserve candidates to possess a Firefighter 1 certificate to reduce initial training costs.
•restructuring reserve training to a bi-weekly format to reduce ongoing training costs.
•requiring reserve recruits to obtain regional  Candidate Physical Agility Test (CPA) certificate within six months to limit recruitment costs.

Fire Chief Kirk Waters indicated he has met with the existing reserve firefighters to discuss the proposal. Waters said they are “very receptive to the reorganization and reducing their compensation in an effort to maintain the program and serve the community.”

The reserve firefighters are used during large emergency incidents such as structure fires when they are activated and report to the scene. Most structure fires require several hours of labor intensive work to assure complete extinguishment of the fire and to salvage the belongings of residents.

The program also gives members of the community the opportunity to prepare for and determine if a career in firefighting is for them. Several of the department’s career firefighters have come up through the ranks of the reserves.

The reorganization will not have an impact on the budget.

The City Council will consider the proposal when they meet Tuesday at 7 p.m. at the Civic Center, 1001 W. Center St.