Midway Fire Rescue is seeing a shortage in staff.
Fire Chief Doug Eggiman said, “We’re going through a phase right now, you know, where our turnover is probably as high as I’ve seen it."
There are currently 16 open positions at Midway Fire Rescue, leaving firefighters and paramedics to battle more than just fires.
Chief Doug Eggiman said that high number of vacancies is forcing firefighters to work extreme overtime hours in order to cover shifts. He explained, “When you have a situation where you have a lot of overtime, then they get overwhelmed and it becomes harder to find someone to work that overtime.” Chief Eggiman said one reason for the vacancies is staff leaving for other departments and jobs that pay more. Until that pay improves, Chief Eggiman said he's working on other ways to fill open positions and help overworked firefighters.