Canton Fire Department a municipal station protecting the incorporated limits of the Town of Canton and unincorporated areas just to the west and east of town. Currently in a temporary station with staff of 11 Full time Employees on 3 shifts including 1 day time Chief.
The Town of Canton is a vibrant and close-knit community with great potential for excellence in public service. However, the Canton Fire Department currently faces significant operational challenges that hinder its ability to perform at the level the community deserves.
One of the most pressing concerns is the department’s compensation structure. Firefighters in Canton earn a starting hourly wage significantly below that of neighboring departments serving towns of similar size and population. For instance, entry-level firefighter pay in nearby municipalities such as Waynesville and Sylva averages between $16.50 and $18.00 per hour, while Canton firefighters typically start between $14.00 and $14.50 per hour. This wage disparity contributes to high turnover, low morale, and difficulty in attracting and retaining qualified personnel.
Staffing is another critical issue. The department frequently operates with minimal personnel, even when fully staffed. In many cases, the single engine company runs from call to call with little or no time to restock essential equipment or supplies. As the town continues to grow, there is an increasing need to staff multiple companies—such as two engine companies or an engine and ladder company—which would require both personnel and capital investment in additional apparatus. Current staffing levels pose serious safety concerns for both responders and the public.
Additionally, firefighters are often tasked with non-emergency assignments during town events, further reducing the department’s emergency response readiness. This practice suggests a disconnect between town administration and the core responsibilities of fire and rescue services.
Training opportunities are also limited, reducing the department’s ability to meet the demanding standards of modern emergency services. Firefighters remain deeply committed to serving the community, but the lack of institutional support from town council and management continues to be a source of frustration.
Moreover, public comments from elected officials implying that firefighters are appreciated but not deserving of higher pay are deeply discouraging. Such statements erode morale and highlight a misalignment between the town’s stated appreciation and its tangible support for public safety personnel.
The Canton Fire Department is staffed by dedicated professionals who deserve the resources, compensation, and leadership necessary to provide the level of protection our growing town requires. With proper investment and strategic direction from town leadership, the department has the potential to become a model of public safety and service excellence.
Public salary records for Town of Canton employees show that the town’s fire chief earned approximately $51,427 in 2022, while its police chief made about $79,550 . This leadership-level discrepancy mirrors broader differences in overall compensation between the two departments:
The Canton Police Department comprises around 30 employees, all earning significantly higher annual pay—line-level patrol officers often earn in the $45K–$55K range .
Conversely, the Canton Fire Department—with a maximum of 12 personnel—sees many firefighters earning in the high‑$30K to low-$40k range annually .
This gap is more striking considering firefighters routinely work longer shifts, face similar or greater risks, and maintain certifications like EMTs in addition to suppression training.
Regional Pay Comparison — Canton Trails Behind
Nearby towns demonstrate significantly higher compensation for firefighters:
In municipalities like Waynesville and Sylva, entry-level firefighter pay typically ranges from $16.50 to $18.00 per hour.
Canton’s starting wage, by contrast, is around $14.00 to $14.50 per hour, well below both regional peers and internal police pay scales.
This underpayment contributes to recruitment challenges, elevated turnover, and operational instability.
Staffing Levels and NFPA Standards
NFPA 1710 Minimum Crew Size
NFPA 1710, the widely adopted standard for career fire departments, mandates a minimum crew of four firefighters per engine company—one officer and three firefighters—to safely conduct interior firefighting operations . These crew assignments ensure:
One firefighter secures water supply
One drives and operates the pump
Two advance the hoseline and manage fireground tasks.
Canton’s Reality: Critically Short-Staffed
However, Canton daily staffs only one engine company, and at times operates that unit with just two personnel on duty. This staffing level fails to meet NFPA 1710’s minimum safety standards, creating unacceptable risk for both responders and citizens.
Impact on ISO Rating and Department Mission
The Canton Fire Department currently carries an ISO rating of 4 .
ISO ratings are heavily influenced by response capabilities and staffing adequacy. Operating with fewer than four personnel per engine may jeopardize future rating improvements or even prompt downgrades.
A compromised ISO rating can increase insurance premiums across the community and negatively impact development and residential affordability.
Furthermore, understaffing impedes the department’s ability to:
Respond simultaneously to multiple incidents
Staff additional apparatus such as a ladder truck or second engine
Provide comprehensive training and meet modern service expectations.
Fire vs. Police: Staffing Disparity
Police: ~30 sworn officers with more robust pay and staffing stability
Fire: As few as 12 seated positions, frequently reduced in practice—with only two on duty—severely limiting operational capacity.
This imbalance underscores an institutional preference for allocating resources toward public safety agencies with comparatively better funding and weaker mission overlap.
—
Conclusion & Recommendations
Canton firefighters are shouldering heavy public safety responsibilities under conditions that fall short of recognized national standards:
Fire staff receive less pay, while staffing remains insufficient relative to NFPA 1710 mandates.
The existing pay gap with the police department and regional peers further undermines morale and recruitment.
Operational limitations—including two-person engine response—jeopardize safety and threaten to impact Canton’s ISO classification.
Recommendations:
1. Adjust starting firefighter pay to at least regional average ($16.50+/hr) and narrow gap with police pay.
2. Increase daily staffing to meet NFPA 1710 minimums—four personnel per running engine, plus additional units for adequate coverage.
3. Invest in apparatus and equipment to support multiple-engine or ladder company operations.
4. Prioritize training resources and activate contingency staffing to support multi-incident responses.
By realigning compensation, staffing, and service expectations with accepted industry standards, Canton can protect its residents more effectively, support its first responders, and uphold its ISO rating as the town grows.
The town of Canton has a close knit community, and can be a great place to call home. That is until you look at how the towns fire department is handled, from under staffing, at times only having 2 firefighters on an engine which fails to meet the NFPA 1710 standard, to under paying, compared to nearby departments such as Waynesville, and Lake Junaluska, as well as Maggie Valley. While Cantons police department has around 30 sworn officers, Cantons fire department only has 11 firefighters across 3 shifts.
As this town continues to grow funding, staffing, trucks and the number of stations will need to increase which doesn’t seem likely given the given the current circumstance, placing the people of Canton at risk.
Moreover, comments made by elected officials implying firefighters are deserving of praise but not pay, is extremely discouraging.
Firefighters are also required to tasked with nonemergency assignments during town events reducing the fire departments ability for emergency response.
Due to the nature of firefighting constant training is often required for certain skills however due to funding or lack of support additional training opportunities are limited.
While the members of Canton Fire department are dedicated their ability is limited and in desperate need of funding, and a city that will listen to them. Canton Fire Department has the potential to be a go to fire department for experienced and new firefighters but that can only happen with the proper investment from the city.
All of the following statements are personal opinions and in no way are representative of the Town of Canton or the Canton Fire Department:
There are some things that I feel are important to share with whomever it concerns. I am an employee of the Town of Canton, within the Fire Department. I have been an employee here for over a year and a half, and I have concerns about the state of the Fire Department. To be clear, I love this department and the town I work for. The people of Canton have been nothing but supportive of the Fire Department and appreciative of the work that we do. I want nothing but the best for my department, my colleagues, and most importantly my town. However, in my time working for the Town of Canton, time after time when we as the Canton Fire Department try to do what’s right by the community we are faced with opposition from the town administration. The prevailing attitude seems to be that the Fire Department is full of lazy, apathetic, and incompetent employees. As I have experienced, our department is constantly belittled and made to seem less important than other departments. I did not join the fire service for acclaim or “hero” status. I do this to serve my community and because this work is fulfilling. However, this job is made significantly harder and less fulfilling when the work we do is undermined by people whose job it is to fight for us and make it easier for us to serve our community. The town administration is charged with the responsibility of ensuring the various departments of the town government are running efficiently and have what they need to do their jobs. But what we need to do ours jobs is not always equipment, training, and resources; which are important, but trust and respect are paramount to success. I do not feel like the Fire Department is trusted to do its job, nor is it respected by the Town of Canton administration. This feels highly disrespectful to myself, my colleagues, and my department. We train everyday in the pursuit of excellence to serve our community. We carry ourselves with professionalism both on and off calls for service. Most importantly, we do everything in our power and ability to provide for those who need us. So when our actions and decisions are constantly challenged and second guessed by those in power, our ability to do our job is diminished.
I’ll leave by saying this: The Canton Fire Department is at a serious crossroads, with the departments ability to serve its community at great risk. We as the Fire Department have a duty to our community to continue to provide excellent service, our administration has a duty to the members of the Fire Department to make sure that continues to happen. I hope this serves as a wake-up-call to the Town of Canton administration and to the Board of Aldermen/women of the Town of Canton. I hope for and fully expect to be given the opportunity to discuss these issues with the town administration. Thank you for reading.
Canton Fire Department is a small department in Western NC that has the potential of being a top tier department. Town Officials and Administration prevents this from happening.
Firefighters were previously living in a station that had been flooded 3 times, had a leaking roof, only 2 bedrooms with 6-7 beds in each (leaving staff sleeping multiple people in one room, including females and males in the same room), faulty AC, broken furniture, and a kitchen big enough for one person at a time. This may not seem like a lot until you consider staff works 48 hour shifts. After the 4th flood, staff lived in an RV for 6 months, with very little heat during the winter.
Canton Fire Department has only 10 personnel across 3 shifts. This severely limits effectiveness on a structure fire. Only allowing 2-3 personnel for fire attack, if crew is fully staffed that day.
Firefighters make approximately $10/hour less than the Canton Police Department. Town officials say this is due to Fire Department staff working more hours. But this difference leads to $32,000 less per year. Thus, number of hours worked does not factor. Town officials have said they appreciate the work the firefighters do but they cannot give Fire Staff a raise. But then give the Police Department raises.
There are 3 engines in service at the Fire Department. 2 of which no longer meet NFPA standard for being a frontline engine, due to the age of the apparatus. All engines are frequently out of service for maintenance repairs.
The Town of Canton does not care about their Fire Department personnel and when asked about it they say they are doing all they can. This is unacceptable and will ultimately lead to personnel or resident injury.
I work as a firefighter for the Canton Fire Department I love my job love coming to work. However seems like our town leadership needs to wake up and start supporting our fire department we are under paid and under staffed. We run one Engine crew everyday only one shift is full with four people on the Engine. We have a hard time hiring people and than keeping them because of our pay and town leadership. They do not support us but seems like they will do anything for our Police Department. For example for a few years in a row they have given the Police Department bigger raises than any other town employees. The town leaders say they can’t afford to compete with surrounding departments on our pay but keep giving the PD raises to retain cops. And on top of that the town manager and assistant town manager gave them selfs raises but when the fire department ask about a raise they town leaders say the town is broke. It does not help that our Chief does not seem to fight for us the fire department makes a lot less than departments around us the same size . I feel like this Fire Department has a lot of potential to be a great department if we could hire more people. But when people think it’s a joke on what our pay is it is very hard to hire people. Something has to change or I feel like our department is in trouble.
Rating Breakdown
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1.8/5
6 Reviews on “Canton Fire Department”
The Town of Canton is a vibrant and close-knit community with great potential for excellence in public service. However, the Canton Fire Department currently faces significant operational challenges that hinder its ability to perform at the level the community deserves.
One of the most pressing concerns is the department’s compensation structure. Firefighters in Canton earn a starting hourly wage significantly below that of neighboring departments serving towns of similar size and population. For instance, entry-level firefighter pay in nearby municipalities such as Waynesville and Sylva averages between $16.50 and $18.00 per hour, while Canton firefighters typically start between $14.00 and $14.50 per hour. This wage disparity contributes to high turnover, low morale, and difficulty in attracting and retaining qualified personnel.
Staffing is another critical issue. The department frequently operates with minimal personnel, even when fully staffed. In many cases, the single engine company runs from call to call with little or no time to restock essential equipment or supplies. As the town continues to grow, there is an increasing need to staff multiple companies—such as two engine companies or an engine and ladder company—which would require both personnel and capital investment in additional apparatus. Current staffing levels pose serious safety concerns for both responders and the public.
Additionally, firefighters are often tasked with non-emergency assignments during town events, further reducing the department’s emergency response readiness. This practice suggests a disconnect between town administration and the core responsibilities of fire and rescue services.
Training opportunities are also limited, reducing the department’s ability to meet the demanding standards of modern emergency services. Firefighters remain deeply committed to serving the community, but the lack of institutional support from town council and management continues to be a source of frustration.
Moreover, public comments from elected officials implying that firefighters are appreciated but not deserving of higher pay are deeply discouraging. Such statements erode morale and highlight a misalignment between the town’s stated appreciation and its tangible support for public safety personnel.
The Canton Fire Department is staffed by dedicated professionals who deserve the resources, compensation, and leadership necessary to provide the level of protection our growing town requires. With proper investment and strategic direction from town leadership, the department has the potential to become a model of public safety and service excellence.
Public salary records for Town of Canton employees show that the town’s fire chief earned approximately $51,427 in 2022, while its police chief made about $79,550 . This leadership-level discrepancy mirrors broader differences in overall compensation between the two departments:
The Canton Police Department comprises around 30 employees, all earning significantly higher annual pay—line-level patrol officers often earn in the $45K–$55K range .
Conversely, the Canton Fire Department—with a maximum of 12 personnel—sees many firefighters earning in the high‑$30K to low-$40k range annually .
This gap is more striking considering firefighters routinely work longer shifts, face similar or greater risks, and maintain certifications like EMTs in addition to suppression training.
Regional Pay Comparison — Canton Trails Behind
Nearby towns demonstrate significantly higher compensation for firefighters:
In municipalities like Waynesville and Sylva, entry-level firefighter pay typically ranges from $16.50 to $18.00 per hour.
Canton’s starting wage, by contrast, is around $14.00 to $14.50 per hour, well below both regional peers and internal police pay scales.
This underpayment contributes to recruitment challenges, elevated turnover, and operational instability.
Staffing Levels and NFPA Standards
NFPA 1710 Minimum Crew Size
NFPA 1710, the widely adopted standard for career fire departments, mandates a minimum crew of four firefighters per engine company—one officer and three firefighters—to safely conduct interior firefighting operations . These crew assignments ensure:
One firefighter secures water supply
One drives and operates the pump
Two advance the hoseline and manage fireground tasks.
Canton’s Reality: Critically Short-Staffed
However, Canton daily staffs only one engine company, and at times operates that unit with just two personnel on duty. This staffing level fails to meet NFPA 1710’s minimum safety standards, creating unacceptable risk for both responders and citizens.
Impact on ISO Rating and Department Mission
The Canton Fire Department currently carries an ISO rating of 4 .
ISO ratings are heavily influenced by response capabilities and staffing adequacy. Operating with fewer than four personnel per engine may jeopardize future rating improvements or even prompt downgrades.
A compromised ISO rating can increase insurance premiums across the community and negatively impact development and residential affordability.
Furthermore, understaffing impedes the department’s ability to:
Respond simultaneously to multiple incidents
Staff additional apparatus such as a ladder truck or second engine
Provide comprehensive training and meet modern service expectations.
Fire vs. Police: Staffing Disparity
Police: ~30 sworn officers with more robust pay and staffing stability
Fire: As few as 12 seated positions, frequently reduced in practice—with only two on duty—severely limiting operational capacity.
This imbalance underscores an institutional preference for allocating resources toward public safety agencies with comparatively better funding and weaker mission overlap.
—
Conclusion & Recommendations
Canton firefighters are shouldering heavy public safety responsibilities under conditions that fall short of recognized national standards:
Fire staff receive less pay, while staffing remains insufficient relative to NFPA 1710 mandates.
The existing pay gap with the police department and regional peers further undermines morale and recruitment.
Operational limitations—including two-person engine response—jeopardize safety and threaten to impact Canton’s ISO classification.
Recommendations:
1. Adjust starting firefighter pay to at least regional average ($16.50+/hr) and narrow gap with police pay.
2. Increase daily staffing to meet NFPA 1710 minimums—four personnel per running engine, plus additional units for adequate coverage.
3. Invest in apparatus and equipment to support multiple-engine or ladder company operations.
4. Prioritize training resources and activate contingency staffing to support multi-incident responses.
By realigning compensation, staffing, and service expectations with accepted industry standards, Canton can protect its residents more effectively, support its first responders, and uphold its ISO rating as the town grows.
The town of Canton has a close knit community, and can be a great place to call home. That is until you look at how the towns fire department is handled, from under staffing, at times only having 2 firefighters on an engine which fails to meet the NFPA 1710 standard, to under paying, compared to nearby departments such as Waynesville, and Lake Junaluska, as well as Maggie Valley. While Cantons police department has around 30 sworn officers, Cantons fire department only has 11 firefighters across 3 shifts.
As this town continues to grow funding, staffing, trucks and the number of stations will need to increase which doesn’t seem likely given the given the current circumstance, placing the people of Canton at risk.
Moreover, comments made by elected officials implying firefighters are deserving of praise but not pay, is extremely discouraging.
Firefighters are also required to tasked with nonemergency assignments during town events reducing the fire departments ability for emergency response.
Due to the nature of firefighting constant training is often required for certain skills however due to funding or lack of support additional training opportunities are limited.
While the members of Canton Fire department are dedicated their ability is limited and in desperate need of funding, and a city that will listen to them. Canton Fire Department has the potential to be a go to fire department for experienced and new firefighters but that can only happen with the proper investment from the city.
All of the following statements are personal opinions and in no way are representative of the Town of Canton or the Canton Fire Department:
There are some things that I feel are important to share with whomever it concerns. I am an employee of the Town of Canton, within the Fire Department. I have been an employee here for over a year and a half, and I have concerns about the state of the Fire Department. To be clear, I love this department and the town I work for. The people of Canton have been nothing but supportive of the Fire Department and appreciative of the work that we do. I want nothing but the best for my department, my colleagues, and most importantly my town. However, in my time working for the Town of Canton, time after time when we as the Canton Fire Department try to do what’s right by the community we are faced with opposition from the town administration. The prevailing attitude seems to be that the Fire Department is full of lazy, apathetic, and incompetent employees. As I have experienced, our department is constantly belittled and made to seem less important than other departments. I did not join the fire service for acclaim or “hero” status. I do this to serve my community and because this work is fulfilling. However, this job is made significantly harder and less fulfilling when the work we do is undermined by people whose job it is to fight for us and make it easier for us to serve our community. The town administration is charged with the responsibility of ensuring the various departments of the town government are running efficiently and have what they need to do their jobs. But what we need to do ours jobs is not always equipment, training, and resources; which are important, but trust and respect are paramount to success. I do not feel like the Fire Department is trusted to do its job, nor is it respected by the Town of Canton administration. This feels highly disrespectful to myself, my colleagues, and my department. We train everyday in the pursuit of excellence to serve our community. We carry ourselves with professionalism both on and off calls for service. Most importantly, we do everything in our power and ability to provide for those who need us. So when our actions and decisions are constantly challenged and second guessed by those in power, our ability to do our job is diminished.
I’ll leave by saying this: The Canton Fire Department is at a serious crossroads, with the departments ability to serve its community at great risk. We as the Fire Department have a duty to our community to continue to provide excellent service, our administration has a duty to the members of the Fire Department to make sure that continues to happen. I hope this serves as a wake-up-call to the Town of Canton administration and to the Board of Aldermen/women of the Town of Canton. I hope for and fully expect to be given the opportunity to discuss these issues with the town administration. Thank you for reading.
Canton Fire Department is a small department in Western NC that has the potential of being a top tier department. Town Officials and Administration prevents this from happening.
Firefighters were previously living in a station that had been flooded 3 times, had a leaking roof, only 2 bedrooms with 6-7 beds in each (leaving staff sleeping multiple people in one room, including females and males in the same room), faulty AC, broken furniture, and a kitchen big enough for one person at a time. This may not seem like a lot until you consider staff works 48 hour shifts. After the 4th flood, staff lived in an RV for 6 months, with very little heat during the winter.
Canton Fire Department has only 10 personnel across 3 shifts. This severely limits effectiveness on a structure fire. Only allowing 2-3 personnel for fire attack, if crew is fully staffed that day.
Firefighters make approximately $10/hour less than the Canton Police Department. Town officials say this is due to Fire Department staff working more hours. But this difference leads to $32,000 less per year. Thus, number of hours worked does not factor. Town officials have said they appreciate the work the firefighters do but they cannot give Fire Staff a raise. But then give the Police Department raises.
There are 3 engines in service at the Fire Department. 2 of which no longer meet NFPA standard for being a frontline engine, due to the age of the apparatus. All engines are frequently out of service for maintenance repairs.
The Town of Canton does not care about their Fire Department personnel and when asked about it they say they are doing all they can. This is unacceptable and will ultimately lead to personnel or resident injury.
I work as a firefighter for the Canton Fire Department I love my job love coming to work. However seems like our town leadership needs to wake up and start supporting our fire department we are under paid and under staffed. We run one Engine crew everyday only one shift is full with four people on the Engine. We have a hard time hiring people and than keeping them because of our pay and town leadership. They do not support us but seems like they will do anything for our Police Department. For example for a few years in a row they have given the Police Department bigger raises than any other town employees. The town leaders say they can’t afford to compete with surrounding departments on our pay but keep giving the PD raises to retain cops. And on top of that the town manager and assistant town manager gave them selfs raises but when the fire department ask about a raise they town leaders say the town is broke. It does not help that our Chief does not seem to fight for us the fire department makes a lot less than departments around us the same size . I feel like this Fire Department has a lot of potential to be a great department if we could hire more people. But when people think it’s a joke on what our pay is it is very hard to hire people. Something has to change or I feel like our department is in trouble.