The decision to temporarily reduce the number of paid firetruck drivers came late Monday night after an executive session by the village board caught the fire department off guard.
“We were blindsided,” said Potsdam Fire Chief Danielle Rose. “We didn’t have a clue.”
“We have been there for the safety of our village residents and this is not something that we’re OK with,” she later added.
The number of paid fire truck drivers will temporarily be reduced from four to three for the months of July and August, according to Village Administrator Gregory O. Thompson.
The decision to reduce was spurred on by a recent retirement, Mayor Reinhold J. Tischler said.
The new schedule would have three paid drivers work for five days of the week, and on the two remaining days the trucks would be driven by volunteers.
The first day of this new driving schedule was supposed to be July 1, but due to a union issue it will have to be later, according to Chief Rose.