Almost one year after Leslie Sanders retired from the Vicksburg Fire Department as its fire investigator, Fire Chief Charles Atkins is still looking for a replacement.

Sanders, the city’s first female certified firefighter, retired April 2015 after 23 years with the department, leaving two positions Atkins has been unable to fill — fire investigator and fire inspector. James York, who was the department’s fire inspector, left the department about the same time to become the city’s safety director.

The department’s fire investigator investigates the cause and origin of fires that damage buildings and property. The fire inspector inspects buildings to ensure they meet city and state fire codes and also deals with enforcing building occupancy.

Both positions, Atkins said, require specialized training at the Mississippi State Fire Academy, adding fire investigators must attend annual continuing education programs to maintain their certification.

Since Sanders’ and York’s departures, he said, the fire department’s shift captains and deputy chief Craig Danczyk have been handling the fire inspection and fire investigation calls.

“Our captains and chief Danczyk have some training fire inspection and investigation,” Atkins said.

“The captains coordinate their (inspection and investigation) calls with chief Danczyk.”

Atkins said filling the two vacancies has been difficult.

While he has received applications for the fire investigator position, the applicants do not have the experience or training necessary for the position.

“Most of them have training on the inspection side, and I want to hire an investigator first,” he said.

Atkins said the department’s firefighters have not shown interest in applying for the position and taking the training, adding they see moving into either position as a step down in pay, because they would lose time off and overtime pay by taking either position.

“They have days off between shifts where they can have a second job and make extra money,” he said. “And they can get more overtime as a firefighter.”

The fire investigator and the fire inspector both work eight hours a day, five days a week.

The inspector is paid a straight salary with no overtime, while the fire investigator gets overtime only if it occurs while investigating a fire. Atkins said he has asked city officials to increase the pay scale for both positions to make them more attractive.

“We’re going to keep looking and hoping,” he said. “What I want to do is have an inspector and investigator and have them cross-trained, so they can do either job. But right now, I’ll take an inspector.”