PARIS — Town officials have requested financial details associated with a possible grant which would fund two more part-time firefighters.

Selectmen on Monday evening said they want to know more about the future costs of the grant, which would fund two additional per diem firefighters in the Paris Fire Department for two years, before allowing the Fire Department to pursue it.

“I’m open to the idea, but I want a lot more details,” Selectman Robert Wessels said.

According to the town website, a request for applicants for per diem firefighters says the department has a crew of three people who work 11-hour days, supplemented by on-call members.

Finding new ways to provide emergency services despite a shrinking force and ballooning calls for aid has been a top priority of fire Chief Brad Frost over the past year, including measures to streamline its organizational structure.

On evenings and nights especially, the Fire Department has a shortage of designated on-call firefighters. Frost said the issue surfaced this past weekend when response to a chimney fire took 16 minutes — a time unsatisfactory and potentially alarming if the blaze had engulfed the home.

“If we don’t do this, we ought to think about funding out of our budget for these positions. It’s down to that,” Selectman Samuel Elliot said. 

The grant is from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency, and would provide an unknown amount of money toward wages, compensation and training for the new firefighters.

Frost estimated wages alone for two firefighters would amount to approximately $102,000 annually. Town Manager Amy Bernard suggested that with training and various certification, the overall costs would tally closer to $135,000.

“You won’t get many people for what we’re paying. We’re at the low end of the scale,” Frost said. 

The 50-plus page application is extensive, Frost said, and he wanted to determine if selectmen were on board with the idea. The deadline for applying is in March.

If approved, funding would not be disbursed until September, he said. 

Selectmen said they wanted to know if grant conditions required the town to continue funding the positions after it expired, and Frost said he was confident it did not. 

Board of Selectmen Chairman Ryan Lorrain said he was wary of the town committing to future costs without knowing the final details of the governor’s budget. 

“I think we’re concerned what might be ahead. Looking at this year’s budget revenue sharing … there’s so many variables on a year-to-year basis,” he said.