Are City Firefighters Overpaid?

[wnelson14]

Generally paid departments buys their food for the shift they are on, all pitching in to pay. As far as bringing an engine, what would you expect they do if they get paged out? They need to be able to respond.

Most incidents/ accidents I observe departments have multiple vehicles at the scene including tahoes/pickup trucks. why not use those? Leave the engines ready to go? Maybe some do what I just described but I have never seen it.

 

[WeiserBucks]

A) We’re there for 24 or sometimes even 48 hours at a time. Are we supposed to not eat?

Don't take offense to this, but this is exactly what rubs people the wrong way. Why not shop for food before your shift? Why are we paying you to shop? Taxpayers don't pay me to shop ect.

Don't get me wrong, I've personally had my life saved TWICE by excellent first responders but some of the optics presented to Joe taxpayer aren't always perceived as you'd think.

 

[Rifleman86]

I never said anything about not eating.
It Takes 20-30 minutes before a shift on the way in to get grocery’s.
Also especially with pick up and delivery services now a days seems like a no brainer as an option. leaving more time to focus on the job or rest before a call.

That’s really not practical. Who and how many guys are there during a shift can change day to day or usually the day of. What if the guy who was supposed to cook calls off? What if the delivery people show up when you are on a run?

Not to mention going to the store every day builds valuable rapport with the local community. We don’t want to be the guys that just live in the firehouse and you only see us on your worst day. Can’t count how many times I’ve given a kid a quick tour of the fire truck and talked about Fire safety while the other guys are in the store. Stuff like that.

 

[Rifleman86]

Don't take offense to this, but this is exactly what rubs people the wrong way. Why not shop for food before your shift? Why are we paying you to shop? Taxpayers don't pay me to shop ect.

Don't get me wrong, I've personally had my life saved TWICE by excellent first responders but some of the optics presented to Joe taxpayer aren't always perceived as you'd think.

See my post above… I don’t see why people get so butthurt about the store thing.

Do you get a lunch break at your job? Yes or no?

Can you not see how we can’t just up and leave and grab a quick bite on our own, and it’s more practical and better for public safety to all go together in the truck?

 

[wapitibob]

Here's what Bend-area public employees were paid last year

Bend-area public agencies spent more on employee pay last year than the year prior, and among the highest paid were firefighters, law enforcement officers and lawyers.

www.bendbulletin.com

 

[MThuntr]

My city firefighters are not paid...so no they are not overpaid

 

[WeiserBucks]

See my post above… I don’t see why people get so butthurt about the store thing.

Do you get a lunch break at your job? Yes or no?

Can you not see how we can’t just up and leave and grab a quick bite on our own, and it’s more practical and better for public safety to all go together in the truck?

I don't get a lunch break, 12.25 hr shifts, 7 on 7 off rotating days/nights.

I think you're misunderstanding my post earlier. I get your reasoning and motives for doing things as you do, but you don't understand that many folks don't get it and you feel the need to defend your actions. I need zero justification for how or why, but for folks looking from the outside in it looks wasteful to them. Hopefully that makes more sense.

I don't know or bitch about what first responders get paid, I just want a couple solid MF's to show up in time of need, that's priceless to me and anyone who has ever had their life saved or that of a loved one. 99% of healthy adults have probably never honestly been in the position of dying shortly without professional care. I have.

 

[Rifleman86]

I don't get a lunch break, 12.25 hr shifts, 7 on 7 off rotating days/nights.

I think you're misunderstanding my post earlier. I get your reasoning and motives for doing things as you do, but you don't understand that many folks don't get it and you feel the need to defend your actions. I need zero justification for how or why, but for folks looking from the outside in it looks wasteful to them. Hopefully that makes more sense.

I don't know or bitch about what first responders get paid, I just want a couple solid MF's to show up in time of need, that's priceless to me and anyone who has ever had their life saved or that of a loved one. 99% of healthy adults have probably never honestly been in the position of dying shortly without professional care. I have.

I gotcha, it is an often complained about thing… The answer, at least to anyone with a remote understanding of what firefighters do and how their schedules work seems obvious, at least to us, so repeatedly answering the question/complaint gets frustrating.

In fact at an old department I worked at years ago which was very (ahem) “sensitive” to citizen complaints used to pull a guy off the truck to go to the store on his own, because it was better for appearances.

Meanwhile that was one less guy availability to respond to an actual emergency. Completely asinine.

 

[WeiserBucks]

I gotcha, it is an often complained about thing… The answer, at least to anyone with a remote understanding of what firefighters do and how their schedules work seems obvious, at least to us, so repeatedly answering the question/complaint gets frustrating.

In fact at an old department I worked at years ago which was very (ahem) “sensitive” to citizen complaints used to pull a guy off the truck to go to the store on his own, because it was better for appearances.

Meanwhile that was one less guy availability to respond to an actual emergency. Completely asinine.

That's exactly what I was trying to convey.

You know exactly what should be done on your end but the public is looking at it from a different angle. People on the outside of any given specialty occupation don't understand the how or why, how would they? They don't give a shit until something terrible happens and they have to dial that phone.

 

[.204smokechaser]

The IAFF Union seems strong looking from the outside in.

I will say just talking to some of the structure guys here in Idaho while on fires with them, a lot of the districts and city folks are under paid. Shouldn’t expect a guy or gal to have to get another full time job to pay the bills if they’re already full time at a fire house.

Same with ambulance companies, the full time EMTs and paramedics shouldn’t have to be working overtime out the butt to make a living.


Everyone will complain about the benefits and pay (or lack there of) throughout the city, county, state, and federal structure and wildland folks but don’t have a clue what any of them endure on a daily basis. Some fires and a lot of medicals will scar a person (ex: suicides, pediatric patients).

For those of you that don’t want to pay property taxes and are in a volunteer ran district for fire and EMS, sign up to be a volunteer. Pretty soon with the lack of folks volunteering, many more places will have to hire paid on call folks.

 

[def90]

Golden Co fire dept is all volunteer.

 

[Corvus Corax]

Nope. Pay ‘em.

 

[alecvg]

Most incidents/ accidents I observe departments have multiple vehicles at the scene including tahoes/pickup trucks. why not use those? Leave the engines ready to go? Maybe some do what I just described but I have never seen

Passenger vehicles are generally command staff (chief, battalion chief, or investigator etc.) Generally the firefighters will not have access to vehicles other than the rescue vehicles they are assigned to.

 

[z987k]

When it comes to total compensation, are municipal firefighters overpaid for the actual work being done?

This topic came up at dinner the other night when a family member talked about what seems to be automatic 10-20% compensation (pay and benefits) raises each time a negotiation happens.

But It’s a topic that almost can’t be discussed…nobody will say it out loud because society is conditioned.

What about here? Are you willing to stick your neck out and say it?

For the record I’m not saying it.

The minimum raise they should get is whatever inflation has been since the last time they negotiated. If that's 10-20%, blame the last 2 presidents for money printer go brrr.

 

[JFK]

The people who have the biggest problem with public service salaries are the ones who say “yeah, I tried to get hired when I was younger, but it didn’t work out.”

We shop on duty because we figure out what we want to eat as a crew. The money to buy food is our own. The meals are excellent.

The Tahoe you see at a call is the Battalion Chief, and it’s not his job to cook.

The engine or truck you see at the store is in service. All their gear is on the rig and they are 100% ready to go at the drop of a hat. Readiness is not an issue.

We typically shop on the way back from a call or drill to avoid an extra trip.

I’ve lost count of the number of times we’ve been shopping and been toned out for a call in the store we were standing in. Further, shopping is a good opportunity to interact with the community we serve.

I feel that I’m adequately compensated. If they want to pay me more, I would not object to it.

 

[Desk Jockey]

I live in an area with hybrid volunteer and paid. The paid guys do well. Definitely a difference in training, skill set and capability. I volunteered for a while. Hard work. A lot of hauling people out of their houses or more likely upper floor apartments while they were having a health crisis. I can see why these guys backs are trashed after a couple of decades.

public pensions are a thorny one. It’s easy to think teachers are overpaid until you substitute for a day. Try being a cop in a decent sized city. Guaranteed to get in a couple fights a week. Walking up on cars not knowing if you are giving a ticket or getting in a Gunfight. These are tough jobs and they deserve fair pay.

 

[Rich M]

I hunt with a fireman and he carries his gear with him in case he sees something out of the ordinary and automatically is going in to search for folks - it isn't will he, it is he's already in there. Nice to know we have a bunch of strong men willing to put themselves in harms way to save us.

They don't get paid enough.

Worrying about the firemen getting lunch or groceries for the station? LoL! Some folks have strange issues.

 

[iamthenick]

Most incidents/ accidents I observe departments have multiple vehicles at the scene including tahoes/pickup trucks. why not use those? Leave the engines ready to go? Maybe some do what I just described but I have never seen it.

Not trying to be rude but do you think there's a reason why we operate the way we do? If we are out going to a low priority medical call in a pick up truck, but suddenly a house fire call comes in. Quick boys lets head back to the firehouse and get the fire truck THEN we can get dressed and get ready to head that way.

We run all types of emergencies and being ready with the right tools to mitigate them is important.

 

[Drenalin]

I'm not a firefighter, or a cop, or a first responder of any kind. Based on the guys I know who are specifically firefighters, the types of calls they respond (in addition to fires), and the toll that takes on them and their families - no, they're not overpaid. Thankfully there are still people willing to do it. Bean counters and politicians who feign outrage over grocery shopping or other asinine BS can go to hell.

 

[wnelson14]

Not trying to be rude but do you think there's a reason why we operate the way we do? If we are out going to a low priority medical call in a pick up truck, but suddenly a house fire call comes in. Quick boys lets head back to the firehouse and get the fire truck THEN we can get dressed and get ready to head that way.

We run all types of emergencies and being ready with the right tools to mitigate them is important.

My original comment was taken the wrong way by yourself.
5-6 guys or how many is needed on the engine stay back at the station.
1-2 guys in a passenger vehicle go to store.

Emergency happens they both leave from where they are at. Sounds like this also isn’t realistic.