The 1970s were banner years for the Worcester Fire Department when it came to the hiring of recruits. In fact, a majority of Fire Department employees were hired during the '70s.
But age is finally catching up with the department - something union officials have been warning about for several years - as many of its employees have reached the requisite age and years of service to retire with superannuated pensions.
The potential exists for an influx of retirements in the coming months, and it unfortunately comes at a time when the Fire Department is already below its authorized complement.
Meanwhile, city officials are looking to take steps to at least keep pace with the retirements.
According to City Manager Michael V. O'Brien, the Fire Department is presently down to 388 uniformed personnel, below the benchmark of 406 uniformed budgeted personnel that was established when the department implemented a redeployment plan in 2007.
That benchmark of authorized personnel is considered critically important for the Fire Department's operations to run optimally and to efficiently meet the city's fire safety needs.
The department could shrink even more this summer. Mr. O'Brien said it is projected that by August, Fire Department staffing could be as low as 368 uniformed personnel because of retirements.
The manager said when his administration put together the municipal budget for this fiscal year, the consensus was that a further review of Fire Department staffing by Chief Gerard A. Dio would be needed mid-year. Now that the fiscal year is half over, Chief Dio has indicated that an additional 10-15 vacancies will likely occur by August beyond the 20 that were anticipated in the budget.
"This would create dangerously low manpower levels within the department, even with the current scheduled recruit class and increased utilization of overtime," Mr. O'Brien said.
As a result, city officials are trying to brace against the expected vacancies.
As part of this year's budget, funding was included for a recruit class of up to 20 new firefighters. The recruit class is being financed by a federal Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response grant the city received to offset the anticipated waves of vacancies and retirements.
But Mr. O'Brien said that grant expires at the end of this year, and city officials are working with U.S. Rep. James P. McGovern, D-Worcester, to extend the term of the grant.
Given the uncertainty of the grant's future, it was determined the best course of action for the time being would be to increase the Fire Department's table of organization by 10 firefighter positions, thus enabling the city to increase the size of the next recruit class to 30.
The manager said while that action will put the Fire Department above its budgeted complement for a brief period of time, he fully intends to work with Chief Dio to get that temporary increase back down to the redeployment plan number of 406 authorized personnel.
"Timing of this action is critical to avoid delay in the hiring process or training time frame if we are to maintain levels in advance of these summer retirements," Mr. O'Brien said. "Our chief financial officer believes that we will be able to retain these new firefighters through expected attrition (additional retirements) next fiscal year if revenue or other (fiscal year 2013) budget assumptions were to change because of worsening economic conditions."
If the manager receives a green light from the City Council to proceed with his plan, the recruit class will begin its training around the first week of April. After their training, the members of the class would be available for duty this summer.
Of course, the Police Department has staffing issues of its own, and Mr. O'Brien is also assessing manpower trends in that department with Chief Gary J. Gemme. He said it is very likely a recruit class will be required in the Police Department next fiscal year to maintain its authorized manpower levels.
But in these difficult fiscal times, there is only so much money to go around for public safety and other priorities the council has.
"I clearly recognize that public safety is the top priority for the City Council and have heard loud and clear the concerns about manpower levels in both the Police and Fire departments," Mr. O'Brien said. "There is great strain on both departments, and I continue to work closely with both chiefs to ensure that they have the resources they need to keep our community safe.
"But we must continue to monitor economic conditions and projections as it pertains to our long-term fiscal health," he added. "It will be incumbent on the City Council and me to establish (public safety) as our absolute priorities for fiscal year 2013. We cannot do it all in these economic times."
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