Deputy Chief Quirricone and Deputy Chief Whitney briefed the Public Safety and Human Services Committee on Sept. 16 about the fire department’s overtime and staffing situation for the period Jan. 1–June 30, 2025.

The nut graf: Combined regular and overtime salaries are tracking slightly under budget at 23.7% (target ~25%), but overtime alone is running substantially higher—about 36–37%—driven by vacancies, late academy graduations, increased mandatory overtime because of medical and family leaves, and incident-related deployments (including California wildfire deployments). Staff said some overtime is reimbursable.

Quirricone said combined salary spending is “tracking slightly under budget at 23.7% compared to where we should be,” and that overtime alone is about 36–37% of the allotment, roughly $3.1 million, which the briefing called about $1 million over target. He said salary savings from vacancies have offset overtime pressures by about $1,870,000 so far. The briefing also noted that overtime related to the Advanced Life Support (ALS) program is funded through King County levies and totals about $1,100,000—costs that are fully reimbursable.

Councilmembers pressed staff about operational impacts and timelines for stabilization. Staff said morale is a primary concern because mandatory overtime has increased and that an ongoing wave of retirements—particularly among longer‑tenured employees—has widened the vacancy gap. The department estimated it was still down about nine full‑time equivalents after the most recent academy, and staff said it plans to send 16 recruits to the next academy beginning in December and is pursuing additional hires and temporary FTE reallocations from other city departments to accelerate relief.

Staff described alternative hiring strategies including lateral hires and “parallel hires” (overhires tied to predicted retirements) to reduce future mandatory overtime and protect morale. On deployments, staff said they are awaiting approximately $110,000 in reimbursable expenses from wildfire deployments. Councilmembers asked for documentation on the overhire plan and how borrowed FTEs are being used.

Ending: Staff will provide follow-up materials, including documentation on planned overhires, the schedule for academy classes, and financial impacts, and will continue to report overtime metrics to the committee.