Syracuse, N.Y. -- The Syracuse Fire Department says having its firefighters work around-the-clock shifts will result in a more well-rested unit.
Fire Chief Michael Monds said the city’s firefighters requested a change in their work schedule earlier this year after many discovered they preferred working 24-hour shifts installed during the peak of the coronavirus.
After negotiations between firefighters and the city, the Syracuse Common Council approved the change to the fire department’s contract on Monday.
Monds said that since 1973 firefighters in Syracuse have worked two 10-hour day shifts, followed by two 14-hour night shifts. After working four days in a row, firefighters would receive four days off.
The new schedule planned by the city will require firefighters to work a full 24-hour shift, receive one day off, work another 24 hours and then receive five days off.
Monds said he believes the change will benefit both the city and its firefighters. He believes the 24-hour schedule will allow city firefighters to participate in more training opportunities, while working only two out of every eight days will allow for a healthier home life.
“Our members said they felt like they were able to have more restful nights of sleep at home because they had more days off,” Monds said. “Our hope is that this will give them better sleep. Healthier firefighters are better able to deal with the every-day stresses of our job that come with the traumatic calls we go on.”
Monds said he expects the cost of the change to be negligible to taxpayers. Firefighters will still work 48 hours every eight days. He does not expect the change to greatly decrease or increase overtime costs or sick time.
The change was passed unanimously by all nine members of the Common Council.
Councilor Michael Greene expressed the most concern about the proposal before ultimately voting to approve it. He asked fire department leadership about the potential impact of fatigue and how they would would determine if firefighters were too fatigued to do their job safely. He expressed particular concern for firefighters who want to use the freedom in their schedule to work second jobs.
The department’s leadership said those concerns are unwarranted, citing the experience employees had during the pandemic.
Monds and Dan Downes, the 1st deputy chief, said the majority of firefighters told them they feel better-rested on the 24-hour schedule than they do now.
Monds said that the department’s leaders are responsible for determining if firefighters are fit to work each morning and evening. He said they can pull individuals out of work if they are exhausted.
The 24-hour shift approach is common in communities across the country. Albany and Buffalo both use 24-hour shifts in their fire departments. Some communities even use 48-hour shifts.
Monds attributed the idea that firefighters felt better rested while working 24-hour schedules to better sleep and improved satisfaction with their lives outside of work. He said the 24-hour shifts give firefighters more weekends to enjoy with their families and the additional days off give them a chance to decompress from the stresses of the job.
He said having five consecutive days off will allow their bodies more time in a normal sleep cycle, which is thrown off by night shifts.
Monds said firefighters would also benefit in their personal lives by spending less time traveling for work and getting ready each day.
Chol Majok, the head of the council’s Public Safety Committee, said he thought it was important to listen to the preferences of first responders. He said he could understand the appeal of trying to take care of work obligations in one block of time and then being able to devote another block to family.
“I like to listen to the fire department,” Majok said. “Their job is hard. They deal with a whole lot of stuff. If this makes their schedule a little easier, I’m willing to listen.”
In addition to meeting the wants of firefighters and creating more enthusiastic employees, Monds said he believes the schedule will provide the city some tangible benefits.
He said that the fire department found it was able to get more training done with the 24-hour shifts during the pandemic than it had in previous years. He said the department put in 43,000 training hours in 2021, but is down about 4,000 hours from that total this year.
Monds said that under the current schedule a firefighter whose training hours were interrupted by an emergency call would end up hitting the end of their shift and heading home. With the 24-hour arrangement, he said, firefighters are more likely to return to work and finish the training
“We’re able to train more,” Monds said. “We’re able to start a drill and, even if they have to go out on a call, we can continue it. We think it’s a win-win on both sides.”
The city’s current contract with the firefighters runs until June 30, 2026.
In other business on Monday:
The Common Council approved spending $893,972 to design an extension of one of the city’s pipes in Skaneateles Lake that will help limit turbidity in the city’s water supply.
Occasionally wind will kick up sediment in Skaneateles Lake and impact the clarity of water in Syracuse’s reservoirs. The turbidity usually has minimal impact on city residents because the turbidity settles while in the reservoirs and the water is also treated by UV light.
The Common Council approved the removal of a required 10 percent down payment for property owners looking to set up installment plans to get tax-delinquent properties removed from public auction.
The city believes that the mandatory down payment was a hurdle that stopped citizens who wanted to pay back taxes from making the effort.
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