Lack of Overtime Budget Leaving Watertown Fire Department Short Staffed

The Fire Department operated the shift beginning Tuesday evening with 15 people on duty, the lowest it has ever been.

For the first time the Watertown Fire Department had to man a shift with only 15 firefighters – the lowest staffing in memory – due to a "critically low" overtime budget, said Fire Chief Mario Orangio. The 15-man shift went into effect Tuesday night at 6 p.m. This was the first time the Fire Department staffing dipped below 16, Fire Lt. Tom Thibaut, president of the Watertown Firefighters Union, told the Town Council Tuesday night. The 15-man staffing is a historic low, Orangio confirmed, but it was the level approved by the Town Council when the fiscal 2011 budget was approved. A $237,000 federal stimulus grant has allowed the Fire Department to increase the minimum staff level to 16 for most of the year. "I did not take making the …

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