Excessive Sick Leave Axes FDNY 5th FF on Engines

Updated, Wednesday morning: Video added, scroll down.

CURRENTLY 60 OF THE 194 FDNY Engine companies have five firefighters assigned to them. All the other have four. It was announced today that 49 more engines will be reduced from 5 to 4 because of an excessive amount of sick leave that is being taken by the field forces.

The New York Daily News reports:

The 12-month average of firefighters taking medical leave hit 7.53% at the Dec. 1 deadline, just exceeding the 7.5% contractual threshold that lets Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta cut staffing.

“Medical leave rates have been rising for several months and we repeatedly warned the \[Uniformed
Firefighters Association\] this was a problem that could again result in the staffing reduction as outlined in their contract with the city,” Scoppetta said.

FDNY officials have estimated the cuts – first reported in Monday’s Daily News – would save the department $500,000 a month in overtime needed to cover shifts left open by sick firefighters. Additionally, officials said that staffing a fifth firefighter on those 49 engine companies costs approximately $20 million annually.

WNYW-TV has a video report:

Read the full report from the Daily News HERE.

Edited to add: Bill Carey provides color commentary with this. HERE