Fire Service Staffing
Say goodbye to phone lists, free up time for other responsibilities
Factors include growing tax bases that allow for full-time positions and more intense training requirements
Los Angeles has one of the lowest firefighter-to-resident ratios in the nation, falling behind cities like Chicago, Dallas and Houston
Danville officials must vote to reject or accept a $1.4 million federal grant that will allow them to hire six new firefighters
Newburgh officials are discussing how to reduce fire and police department overtime that is on pace to fall far short of more than $700,000 in hoped-for cuts
First Selectman Rudy Marconi said “the eight-man shift has worked out very well” and that the department has seen a “definite reduction” in mutual aid needed
Expected shortfalls in both fire and police overtime savings have spurred a citywide spending freeze
The Newport News Firefighters’ Association attended a city council meeting and said the mandatory overtime policy is exhausting its members
A Richmond Fire Department memo said they often do not have enough personnel to meet minimum staffing requirements and that morale is low
Instead of formally logging the hours, employees struck agreements with their supervisors, privately keeping track of “pocket time” in the fire department
Some city officials and cycling activists questioned the proposed use of the money for overtime rather than to make streets safer for cyclists and pedestrians
The 600-member Buffalo Fire Department has been operating without a commissioner or deputy commissioner since the beginning of May
The firefighters allege that East Greenwich is shorting them on overtime by violating the Fair Labor Standards Act
City council members proposed doing away with a plan to purchase new fire department equipment to pay for overtime, but Fire Chief Jim Parrish opposed the idea
The suit claims the city of Hermosa Beach violated the Fair Labor Standards Act by not paying firefighters the correct amount of compensation
The billboard was paid for by a former firefighter in order to stop mandatory overtime for firefighters
The city council decided to establish a new policy that will not allow firefighters to be brought into work when others call in sick
The growing cost of overtime increases when firefighters call in sick and the city cannot afford the trend
The new agreement creates a faster training pipeline for new hires and vacation hour restructuring
Last year, about 31 percent of the budgeted overtime expenses were associated with firefighters calling in sick
Engineer-paramedic Michael Lamb was the district’s second-highest paid employee last year, getting $137,193 in regular pay and $151,516 in overtime
The retirement of six 30-year veterans have created a six-person void in the city’s firefighting force
The average fire captain earned $301,791 in total compensation in 2016
About 31 percent of the budgeted overtime expenses is associated with firefighters calling in sick
Firefighters said the city is improperly calculating their overtime pay and they now want to recoup their losses for the past three years
The brownouts began a year ago as a measure taken by the city to cap overtime
The firefighters allege that they worked thousands of extra hours for as many as 10 years
The union can negotiate the minimum number of firefighters on a shift, because it has a direct impact on safety
The total settlement includes overtime, pension payments and interest
The bonuses come after overtime costs have nearly doubled over the last two years
The fire chief said the figures include pension, benefits and overtime costs
Officials said the firefighter-paramedic earned more than the fire chief and city manager due to an extraordinary amount of overtime
Two firefighters each worked more than 6,000 hours, which amounted to “almost 70 percent of the time they are living and breathing”
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