Despite ever-tightening budgets, hefty paydays are actually becoming the norm for a lot of Bay Area firefighters.
But one East Bay fire department says paying out a lot of overtime is actually saving taxpayers money.
In 2015, firefighters in San Ramon were making as much as $400,000 a year in total compensation.
A hard days work as a firefighter in San Ramon could be adding up to hundreds of thousands of dollars a year.
According to data collected by the watchdog group, Transparent California, more than half of the San Ramon Valley Fire District full-time employees make more than $300,000 a year.