Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire, Pennsylvania, 2008-2011

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The Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire has over 600 firefighters that serve the City of Pittsburgh. The City of Pittsburgh is geographically divided into four Battalions, which includes 29 Stations housing 24 Engine Companies, 3 Quint Companies, 11 Truck Companies, and a Mobile Air Compressor Unit.

According to Simply Hired, the average salary for fire department jobs in Pittsburgh was $43,000; Salary.com placed the figure of fire fighter salaries in Pittsburgh at a little over $40,000.

In 2004, an external report by a public safety consulting firm found problems in the availability, validity, and reliability of data from the Bureau of Fire. According to the report, accuracy between city records and Bureau records was extremely limited.

The availability of current records was an issue in personnel costs, emergency incident activity levels and policy matters, among other things.

The report concluded that without this data easily accessible in an easy to use format, the Fire Chief was not being held accountable for running the Bureau in an efficient and effective manner.

Salaries and benefits

Salaries

Sunshine Review requested Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire salaries from 2008 to 2011. The information was gathered from county data after Sunshine Review filed a public records request. Sunshine Review was seeking data on the number of bureau employees earning over $150,000 in annual salaries, as well as salary and benefit information for the entire police force.

No employees of the Bureau of Fire earned more than $100,000 annually. Salaries for 2009 and 2010 remained the same.

2011 salaries

• Fire Chief Darryl Jones earned a salary of $93,687.15
• 15 battalion chiefs earned $80,212.86
• Four firefighter instructors earned $72,920.64
• 10 district chiefs earned $68,789.97
• 52 fire captains earned $66,291.68
• 108 fire lieutenants earned a salary of $60,265.08
• 129 employees with the rank of master firefighter earned $57,252.03 annually
• 256 employees with the rank of 4th-year firefighters earned $54,786.37 annually
• 79 5th year paramedics earned $51,119.12

2010 salaries

• Jones earned a salary of 91,850.10
• 15 battalion chiefs earned $78,640.16
• Four firefighter instructors earned $71,490.85
• 10 district chiefs earned $67,440.05
• 54 fire captains earned $64,991.89
• 102 fire lieutenants earned $59,083.32
• 135 employees with the rank of master firefighter earned $56,129.22
• 51 crew chiefs earned $54,974.92
• 261 employees with the rank of 4th-year firefighters earned $53,712.20

2009 salaries

• Jones earned 91,850.10
• 15 battalion chiefs earned $78,640.16
• Eight district chiefs earned $67,440.05
• 57 fire captains earned $64,991.89
• 99 fire lieutenants earned $59,083.32
• 100 employees with the rank of master firefighter earned $56,129.22
• 285 employees with the rank of 4th-year firefighters earned $53,712.20

2008 salaries

• Jones earned a salary of $89,609.52
• 16 battalion chiefs earned $76,721.95
• 10 district chiefs earned $65,795.18
• 58 fire captains earned $63,406.54
• 98 fire lieutenants earned $57,642.31
• 111 employees with the rank of master firefighter earned $54,760.09
• 231 employees with the rank of 4th-year firefighters earned $52,402.02

Benefits

Information on employee benefits was not provided.

Phone use

The Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire did not provide information to Sunshine Review on cell phone use by the department, including number of phones and other mobile devices issued, as well as the amount budgeted for the devices and plans.

Car use

The Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire did not provide information to Sunshine Review on the number of automobiles used by the department, including the amount budgeted for the maintenance and replacement.

Criticism

Some groups claimed that Pittsburgh could achieve adequate fire protection with significantly fewer firefighters and personnel hours. Emergency Response and Safety Education Enterprises prepared a report for the Pittsburgh oversight board in 2005 calling for eliminating 288 jobs by attrition and closing 13 existing stations. The report also suggested constructing three additional stations in more optimal locations.

The Competitive Pittsburgh Task Force of 1996 found that Pittsburgh exceeded similarly sized cities in terms of fire stations, engine and truck companies, and staffing, while having a shorter work week than those of its peers. Per capita staffing (all uniformed and civilian employees) and per capita expenditures in Pittsburgh's Bureau of Fire exceeded nearly every other city examined by the Allegheny Institute for Public Policy across the country. Additionally, the average salary for a firefighter with five years' experience was nearly $7,000 higher in Pittsburgh than the average of four other regional hub cities (Salt Lake, Charlotte, Columbus, and Omaha).

Overtime

Overtime for the Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire was more than $18,000 per day for the majority of 2004.

Proposed solutions

The Allegheny Institute for Public Policy asserted that if Pittsburgh had cut its 2004 fire expenditures to the rate of other hub cities, the nearly $81 million in expenditures could have been reduced by almost $30 million.

The fire bureau report suggested the use of "floaters" in order to cut down on overtime costs. The then-current work arrangement involved a "10/14 shift," a rotation of four 10-hour day shifts, followed by four days off, followed by four 14-hour night shifts and then four days off. The report advocated a 24-hour shift followed by 48 hours off with the use of "floating" personnel to avoid having to pay overtime. This change would account for roughly $2.6 million total savings.

Salary records project

In 2011, Sunshine Review chose 152 local governments as the focus of research on public employee salaries. The editors of Sunshine Review selected eight states with relevant political contexts (listed alphabetically):

1. California
2. Florida
3. Illinois
4. Michigan
5. New Jersey
6. Pennsylvania
7. Texas
8. Wisconsin

Within these states, the editors of Sunshine Review focused on the most populous cities, counties and school districts, as well as the emergency services entities within these governments. The purpose of this selection method was to develop articles on governments affecting the most citizens.

The salary information garnered from these states were a combination of existing online resources and state Freedom of Information Act requests sent out to the governments.

A study published by the Pew Charitable Trusts and the Economy League of Greater Philadelphia said the city of Philadelphia faced challenges owing to the cost of public employee pensions. The report claimed the amount that Philadelphia paid to pension recipients limited the city’s ability to use its budget effectively.

The report said there were more individuals receiving pension benefits—33,907 claimants in 2006—than workers in the city—28,701. The authors recommended three steps towards addressing the problem of high costs in pensions: improved data collection, expanded transparency initiatives, and reductions to the city's overall budget.

Salary schedules can be published as ranges, not as specific compensation figures, and may leave out compensation received through health and retirement benefits, as well as benefits such as commuter allowances and cell phone reimbursements. This project aimed to close the gap and provide a more accurate picture of public employee salaries for the sake of public education and transparency.

See also

• Pittsburgh employee salaries
• Pennsylvania local government salary: Fire Departments
• Public employee salary

External links

 

• Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire official website
• "Comprehensive Management Study Pittsburgh, PA Bureau of Fire," April 2008 (dead link)
• Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire Recruitment policies
• "Pittsburgh Firefighter Training," eHow
• State Budget Solutions -- Pennsylvania
• Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire