Merritt is seeing a bang for its buck when it comes to the fire department’s work experience program (WEP).

Fire Chief Dave Tomkinson said that over the course of the program’s eight-year existence, it’s saved the city an estimated $2.9 million.

It costs about $35,000 per year to host the five WEP firefighters, including costs for equipment, accommodations and an education allowance.

Over eight years, that’s about $280,000.

In contrast, the amount it would cost to have five full-time firefighters would be $80,000 per firefighter annually between salary and benefits.

That amounts to a total bill of about $3.2 million to the city if it had to employ five full-time firefighters over eight years.

WEP helps bridge the gap between a volunteer fire service and a career fire department at a minimal cost, Tomkinson said via email.

These firefighters have also helped the city achieve a Dwelling Protection Grade of 2.00 — the highest it can receive without hiring career firefighters, Tomkinson stated.

However, the WEP program isn’t a substitute for the paid-on-call firefighters who are at the core of Merritt Fire Rescue Department, Tomkinson wrote.

WEP firefighters come to Merritt from fire academies for a year at the local fire station while they apply for full-time firefighting jobs.

The department started the program in response to recruitment and retention difficulties.

Since it began, about 85 per cent of the firefighters who have participated in the program have gone on to find full-time employment as firefighters within about two years, Tomkinson said.

This year’s group consists of five members, most of whom come from other parts of British Columbia. They have been serving the Merritt area since this past October.