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Fire department reports year of overtime data after Station 7 opening; staffing shortfalls remain episodic
Summary
Hendersonville Fire Department presented a year-long overtime and staffing analysis after Station 7 opened, showing overtime remains but that full elimination would require roughly 3.71 additional full-time equivalents.
Hendersonville Fire Department leaders and an IT analyst presented a year-long review of staffing and overtime to the Public Safety Committee on Aug. 12, 2025, showing how the department has absorbed leave and how overtime has changed since Station 7 opened.
Val, an IT data analyst, said she extracted 16,750 individual time entries from the department’s time-tracking system to produce daily and monthly charts. The analysis translated overtime hours into the number of full-time equivalents that would be required to eliminate those overtime hours in a theoretical model — a calculation that produced a figure of about 3.71 full-time positions. Val cautioned that the number is illustrative: “you obviously can't have 0.71 of a person, and you will never eliminate overtime,” and training, special events and emergency operations mean some overtime will always occur.
Fire Chief Bush and staff explained operational staffing assumptions used in the report: the department uses a 24-hour shift model and counts 29 personnel as a practical minimum required to run daily operations (including two command positions), while a full staffing target is 37 per shift (111 suppression personnel across three shifts). The 29-person operational baseline is based on current local practice; NFPA recommendations for apparatus staffing are higher (four personnel per piece of equipment) and ISO evaluations call for larger responses on certain incident types. Chief Bush said the department often meets turnout and response-time expectations even when short by small numbers, but that larger incidents or multiple simultaneous incidents require mutual aid.
The report shows month-to-month variation in overtime: some months (for example, October) had higher overtime totals, while others (February) were lower. Staff attributed some spikes to predictable leave patterns such as fall break or higher vacation months; they also described how FLSA-required "Kelly days" and planned leave require supervisors to schedule above minimums to absorb predictable absences. The committee asked whether response times fluctuate when staffing dips; staff said turnout and response-time performance remain within expected thresholds and are included in the department’s annual report.
Committee members praised the department’s management of overtime after the station opened. “I think the fire department for being able to manage that, and we have requested, haven't we? … I think this is a pat on the back,” committee member Saffin said. Staff and committee members said the city has approved three positions in the budget pending grant funding (AFG/SAFER and other federal sources) and that if grants are not awarded, staffing and overtime will need to be revisited.
No formal action was taken. Staff provided the data for committee review and said they will return with updates when grant decisions or policy changes occur.
