“That could have a tremendous impact on our services,” Kelvin Cochran, Atlanta Fire Rescue chief, said in the article.The possible mass retirements would be the largest in recent memory, but these firefighters are approaching 30 years with the force and can retire with full pension benefits. Atlanta is already looking to fill some of the vacancies, but it takes about a year to hire and train a recruit.

The possible retirements come at a difficult time, as the department was hit hard during budget cuts this year and 26 fire recruits were laid off. On top of that, Fire Station 7, located near the West End Mall, was closed.

“Meanwhile, the Fire Department lags behind one national agency’s standard to respond to fire and medical emergencies,” the article notes. “The National Fire Protection Association calls on fire departments to respond within six minutes to a fire or medical emergency call at least 90 percent of the time. The standard allows a minute for a 911 dispatcher to take the call, another minute for firefighters to suit up and four minutes for the first unit to arrive.

“The Atlanta department met that standard 70.5 percent of the time in 2007 for all fire calls, according to the city,” the article continues. “And as of July 1, the department has met the standard 70.3 percent of the time for 2008.”