According to a report from KATU, the Portland (OR) City Council approved funding for 13 additional Portland Fire & Rescue (PFR) firefighters as the bureau attempts to curb the use of mandatory overtime.
Public Safety Commissioner Rene Gonzalez praised the addition of the new hires.
PFR spokesperson Rick Graves said there will be no second vote and the department will commence recruiting the additional firefighters. Training for new firefighters will last about nine to 12 months, depending on a recruit’s experience level.
For the past year-and-a-half, the PFR has had difficulty filling daily staffing vacancies, according to an April 5 ordinance made by the city council which offered $100 to firefighters to voluntarily take on extra shifts. The bureau has implemented mandatory callbacks or forced overtime and “has also occasionally shut down frontline apparatus to manage daily staffing deficits.”
Isaac McLennan, the union president of the Portland Firefighters’ Association said last week that some firefighters have been working 100 or more hours per week because of the staffing shortage.
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