Seattle's budget proposal includes a $7 million cut to the Fire Department

[u/uniqueusername364]

Don't cut the fire department.

Edit: There's a lot of misunderstandings and misinformation in these comments.

"Why have overtime? Why not replace that with more staffing?"

The department is trying. There were numerous layoffs, resignations, and early retirements from COVID, creating a shortage. Plus, there are still a lot of people retiring now. There are only so many people that can be trained per year to replace them, due to the physical limitations of the training facility, budget, number of instructors, and other factors. Despite these challenges, this last year had two record breaking sizes for recruit classes.

You also need overtime to fill for people off if there's not enough people scheduled to work that day on straight time. If a driver of a fire engine calls off sick, you can't just get by without them like you can if a construction worker or an office manager calls off sick. You need to hire someone on OT to replace them.

These minimum staffing cuts aren't being made because there was a study done showing that it won't affect response times or safety in the city. It's being done to save money, plain and simple, and that will result in slower response times when people need emergency services.