http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/local/scn-sa-firefighters6nov07,0,5154692.story

City to hire 8 new firefighters

By Natasha Lee
Staff Writer

November 7, 2006

STAMFORD - Stamford Fire & Rescue and Turn of River fire departments were recently granted approval to hire eight firefighters to help ease overburdened staff and cut down on rising overtime costs.

Last month, the city's Personnel Commission approved the hiring of four firefighters to each department.

Both requests were passed unanimously and will need final approval from the city's Board of Finance and Board of Representatives, city officials said.

The eight firefighters are expected to start by late spring or early summer.

Overtime for the city's fire department was unusually high this year, according to city and fire officials.

Twelve firefighters started with the Stamford Fire & Rescue Department in early October, helping to bring the department to full staff with 247 firefighters, said fire Chief Robert McGrath.

But with summer vacations, sick/injury leave and pending retirements, it became hard to juggle the vacancies, and the department had to rely on existing firefighters to work overtime to fill in the slots, he said.

Stamford Fire & Rescue typically averages $36,000 weekly for overtime. But this year, particularly from July through September, the average was $50,000 to $57,000 weekly, McGrath said. At times, it rose to $74,000, and one week, to $87,000. The strain on the department's $1.2 million budget for overtime this fiscal year will leave it with a $600,000 deficit, fire officials said.

McGrath said the extra staff is crucial.

"The relief would certainly show in the cutback of overtime," he said.

In 2004, the city hired eight firefighters to help fill retirement and sick-leave vacancies within the department and saved about $400,000 in overtime, said Bill Callion, the city's director public safety, health and welfare.

The firefighters will be selected from an existing list of eligible candidates, who have already passed the test and met requirements necessary to enter the fire academy.

The candidates were put on a waiting list based on the number of spots available in the academy but remain eligible for three years, said Turn of River volunteer Fire Chief Ray Whitbread.

Starting salary for city firefighters is about $41,000, and increases to about $64,000 over five years, according to the city's Human Resources Department.

For Turn of River, the added employees will help bolster a department that lacks enough career firefighters during day shifts when volunteers are typically unavailable because they work.

The Turn of River volunteer department has fewer career firefighters than Belltown or Glenbrook volunteer fire stations but is one of the busiest, Whitbread said.

Turn of River currently has 17 career firefighters, including a fire marshal, with four firefighters assigned per shift. Its two stations house two career firefighters per day shift compared to three career firefighters at the other stations, he said.

The department averages just under $300,000 a year in overtime.

"It's not that we're going over our budget, but the city is trying to reduce that number," he said.

Four of the new hires will report to the Turn of River station, with two based there permanently and two serving as "floater" firefighters for Glenbrook and Belltown stations as needed, Whitbread said.