Fitchburg fire chief warns of staffing shortfall and proposes three-person engine shifts to curb overtime

Fitchburg's fire chief told the Common Council on June 23 that a sustained loss of part-time and intern firefighters, combined with a schedule change and rising overtime, has created a budget and staffing squeeze that threatens response capability.

The chief said the department's pool of part-time (POX) firefighters has fallen from about 30 in 2023 to roughly 21 this year, and that the city had incurred about $229,000 in overtime through May 31, 2026. "These are considerations or changes that no elected official or fire chief would want to make," he said, describing a short-term staffing option that would sometimes leave one apparatus with three people instead of four to avoid triggering overtime.

Why it happened: the chief traced the strain to a 2023 schedule reduction from roughly a 53-hour model to a 48-hour work week that relies on 17 earned days off per firefighter. Those changes created regular earned-day-off (EDO) positions meant to preserve hours but also increase the number of staff needed to avoid overtime. The chief also cited higher turnover as recruits move into full‑time jobs elsewhere and a smaller applicant pool statewide.

What the proposed change would do: allowing a three-person crew in limited circumstances (usually an intern or POX firefighter not scheduled for a particular day) could lower overtime costs substantially, the chief said. He told the council a rough finance estimate suggested the change could realize savings in the low hundreds of thousands of dollars if applied broadly, but he emphasized this would not be an everyday condition and that the department would keep four persons on-duty when overtime is not required.

Public-safety tradeoffs: the chief and staff repeatedly warned the change would reduce on-scene capability. "If we were to reduce staffing on both engines each day, we're going to reduce our capability on scene by about 25%," he said, adding that OSHA and mutual-aid rules require minimum crew sizes for certain operations and that there will be increased reliance on neighboring departments for large incidents.

Labor and contract questions: staff reported a review of the local collective bargaining agreement (Local 311) and said some contract language about EDO usage and holiday coverage may affect scheduling. The chief said some contract provisions exist in writing even if past practice has been more flexible; he recommended negotiating clearer interpretations with the union and pursuing changes during the next bargaining cycle.

Council reaction and oversight: council members asked for data-driven oversight if the change is used, including monthly metrics on how often engines operate below four-person staffing and the operational impacts. One council member suggested reporting the frequency an engine goes out below staffing and convening a follow-up review. The chief committed to a larger SWOT/SWAT analysis of the department to return to committee for deeper review.

What comes next: the council did not vote to adopt the three-person staffing as a formal policy that evening. The chief said some changes could take effect July 1 and July 5 for administrative steps, but implementation and any contract changes will require further discussion with union representatives and likely will be revisited during budget deliberations for 2027. He also said the city is pursuing grants and consolidation conversations to reduce recurring overtime pressure.

The council requested that the chief and administration provide regular staffing and overtime metrics as the city considers short-term operational changes and longer-term budget responses.