JEANNETTE, Pa. — According to Jeannette Fire Chief Bill Frye, it’s been a tough few years for the full-time firefighters.
“Three is the absolute minimum, as you can tell, we’re really spread thin at three,” Frye told Channel 11′s Andrew Havranek.
Right now, the Jeannette Fire Department is temporarily down to just two, the chief and one other full-time member, since March.
Their third full-time firefighter was hurt fighting what ended up being a fatal fire at a home on Guy Street on March 20 that killed four young kids and their father.
>>> 4 children, father killed in Westmoreland County house fire
“He’s been off since then, so the two of us, in turn, go from a 24/48 schedule as our contract says, to a “36 hours on, 36 hours off” schedule,” Frye said.
That means they’re having to work more overtime, and are getting less rest between shifts and calls.
“If I get a call in the middle of the night, I don’t get sleep, and then I’m in the office doing inspections all day, I’m driving the apparatus around, there’s situational awareness, lack of attention, all of that can contribute to more accidents or injuries because you lose your sense of focus,” Frye said.
Since 2021, the city has paid nearly $183,000 in overtime to its three full-time firefighters.
“Typically, the overtime is close or equal to what it would be to put a fourth firefighter on, with benefits,” Frye said.
The city manager said the city and city council are looking at every option to keep the department manned 24 hours a day.
“Staffing is an issue all across the city,” Ethan Keedy said. “We’re trying to explore all the options that we can to see what we can do.”
One of the options, he said, is having some of the nearly 40 part-time and supplemental firefighters who have certifications fill in to man the station.
“Overtime’s going to occur in all of the departments, it’s what we can do to try and alleviate that and solve those staffing issues across the city that we’re looking into,” Keedy said.
But, they don’t want to put the burden on the taxpayer.
They’re looking to get grants and get creative with how they budget.
Frye said he’s optimistic that the city can find a way to help the full-time firefighters and keep them from being stretched too thin.
“They’re all reasonable people,” Frye said. “Hopefully they start to understand and we can find something to get working through it.”
“We’re going to try to see what the best solution is moving forward,” Keedy said.
With those part-time and supplemental firefighters, the department says it continues to have enough firefighters to respond to calls.
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