Escambia County Volunteer Firefighters to Receive $1,000 Stipend

(L-R) Assistant Chief Michael Aaron, Fire Chief Jason Catrambone, District 1 Commissioner Jeff Bergosh, District 4 Commissioner Robert Bender, Assistant District Chief Yoshimi Core and Public Safety Director Eric Gilmore

On Thursday, Sept. 2, the Escambia County Board of County Commissioners unanimously approved for volunteer firefighters to receive a $1,000 stipend. The stipend is for volunteer firefighters who ran at least 25% of their station's call volume and conducted 96 hours of training during the COVID-19 pandemic under the same timeframe as Governor Ron DeSantis's Florida's Heroes Initiative, previously approved by the Florida Legislature and distributed to 193,000 first responders by the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity.

"The individuals who volunteer their time to serve our community should be recognized," said Public Safety Director Eric Gilmore. "As a volunteer firefighter myself, I understand what goes into the hard work they do. Receiving this stipend is a big win for our volunteers."

Funding for the checks is part of the American Rescue Plan. Click here to learn more about the American Rescue Plan.

Escambia County thanks State Rep. Michelle Salzman for working with the Board of County Commissioners to approve the stipend. 


(L-R) District Chief Chris Hatch, District 5 Commissioner Steven Barry and State Rep. Michelle Salzman