20 / 260
10
firefighters. All field personnel are certified as either EMTs or paramedics and every station is
staffed with at least one paramedic in order to provide advanced life support (ALS) services.
Operational shift personnel work 72 hours on and 96 hours off, which is based on an average
workweek of 53 hours. The normal workweek includes 53 hours at straight-time wages and 19
hours at the overtime rate (time and one-half the employee’s hourly rate). The minimum staffing
each day is 16 personnel, which includes three personnel operating from each of the five fire
stations (two City and three District) and one Battalion Chief (excludes Station 31, which
operates under an Amador Agreement). CAL FIRE utilizes a unique platoon schedule to staff the
various stations throughout the year. There are three platoons that are operational in this system.
Platoon A works for three consecutive days. Platoon B works the three alternate days. The third
platoon is a relief platoon and these personnel typically work the seventh day not covered by
either Platoon A & B and also cover for scheduled vacancies on either of the other two
platoons. CAL FIRE utilizes a constant staffing model; thus, when an operational vacancy occurs
as a result of scheduled or unscheduled leave (sick leave, vacation, disability leave, or
termination, etc.), that vacancy is filled by either by an individual from the relief squad or by the
recall of an off-duty person (utilizing overtime). Figure 3-4 is a representation of the CAL FIRE
platoon structure.
FIGURE 3-4: CAL FIRE Platoon Structure
As indicated above, in each monthly work cycle CAL FIRE employees typically work 288 hours, of
which 212 hours are at the straight time rate and 76hours are at an overtime rate. This is not
typical in most fire organizations, as scheduled overtime is usually 12 hours or less. CAL FIRE
provides a much higher amount of scheduled overtime, but this is offset by the lower wage
scale when compared with neighboring California jurisdictions. The state of California is required
by Government Code; Section 19827.3, to survey salary and benefits of firefighters in other
jurisdictions. In the 2014 annual survey, conducted by the California Department of Human
Resources (CalHR), it was determined that when compared to 20 randomly selected
municipalities for the four positions surveyed (Firefighter II, Fire Apparatus Engineer, Fire Captain,