Staff Shortage Causing Friction Between OH Firefighters, Officials
Source Firehouse.com News
A staffing shortage at an Ohio fire department that has led to the temporarily closing of stations since last year is creating issues between firefighters and city officials.
Youngstown's firefighters union says the department is in dire need of new recruits, WFMJ-TV reports. Last year, the city began temporarily shutting down stations on a rotating basis to cut back on overtime.
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With OT Spent, OH Fire Department Browns Out StationsOH Union: FFs Abusing Call-Ins Haven't Led to Brown Outs"The only thing that needs to be done is hire more personnel, and that hasn't happened in three and a half years," Battalion Chief Charlie Smith, the head of Youngstown's firefighters union, told WFM. "This is strictly a numbers game when it comes to how many people we have employed by the fire department."
But Chief Barry Finley claims the biggest issue when it comes to station closures is staffing shortages caused by call-ins
"If I don't have enough people to man the fire trucks, then I'm forced to shut down a truck," he said. "That's not my fault, that's not the mayor's fault, that's not the city's fault, that is the firefighters' fault. Come to work."
Smith disputes that contention.
"Not one person has been written up for misabusing their sick time," he said. "That has nothing to do with it."
"It's very frustrating that every time we turn around, it's the mayor, it's the fire chief, pointing the fingers at the firefighters saying that we're abusing overtime," Smith added. "That is not the case. That's not what's happening; the city needs to hire firefighters, we have a very important job, and we need to be properly staffed."
Mayor Tito Brown said the city is working to bring on more recruits; it just needs to determine how many. But Finley says it will be still be hard to attract potential unless the starting pay is increased.
"The fire department, the police department, you know, we start out at $26,000. That's below poverty," he said. "Who you gonna get to go run in a burning building or get shot at for $26,000? Nobody. So there are some things that, you know, we, as a city, know that we have to change."
