A combination of several factors has led the Danville Fire Department to have to pay much more in overtime over the past two months than it normally does.
Fire Chief Don McMasters says the COVID-19 pandemic has caused some firefighters to have to go into quarantine.
“At one point I’ve had two different individuals–one for 14 days and one for 10 days–on quarantine, which required overtime to back their position at work,” he said.
McMasters added that one firefighter is off work to have surgery and two others are on short-term injury leave, with other employees having to fill their shifts.
He also said the number of fires in Danville was up significantly in August. Normally, the Danville Fire Department sees an average of six to seven “working fire” calls a month, but August saw 13 of those. And that leads to a significant spike in overtime.
“Every time I have a working fire and I have to call personnel back up for second alarm response, every one of those fires costs me about $1,000 worth of overtime,” McMasters said.
McMasters says he is hopeful the overtime costs will come down soon, since with the fall season many people will not take as much vacation time off, and the three employees on work-related leave can return.
The Danville Fire Department paid $32,717 in overtime during its last pay period in August.
