THE BILLINGS, MONTANA FIRE DEPARTMENT wants to upgrade enough firefighters to paramedic level to have one on each engine.  But a long-running back-pay lawsuit is putting all plans on hold for now.

In 2000 the firefighters file a class-action suit for back pay because they had been paid for 40 hrs. per week for five years while they were actually working 43.5 hours.  After 6 years of working through the appellate courts, the state Supreme Court ruled this month that the city has to pay plus a 55% penalty and attorney’s fees.  The potential bill could be as high as $5.4 million.

The Billings FD has 103 field FF’s and six stations.

The Billings Gazette has a good, informative article HERE.
Billings FD homepage HERE.

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