Bloomington officials hope to use a new grant to hire 18 more full-time firefighters as they aim to improve response times across the city.

The Staffing For Adequate Fire and Emergency Response grant, issued by the federal government, is worth nearly $7 million, and officials say it should cover the first three years of the firefighters' employment.

"The big difference is [in] our ability to provide service to our customers, all the people that call 911," said Bloomington Fire Chief Ulie Seal. "Our effort to add more full-time people has improved our response time already in the city compared to what it was before, and I hope to continue that."

The Bloomington Fire Department, like others across the nation, has seen a decrease over the last decade in the number of people who are interested in becoming part-time or volunteer firefighters. The drop-off was especially steep after the COVID-19 pandemic, Seal said.

So, fire chiefs have increasingly tried to hire more full-time employees. The Bloomington department currently has 30 full-time firefighters and 70 part-time firefighters.

With additional full-time employees, response times have improved. Seal said 90% of calls now receive a response within 9½ minutes, a decline from a roughly 12-minute response time.

But he hopes to reduce that time even further and to staff more of the city's six fire stations consistently. "It's getting me closer," Seal said of the grant.