MAINE, USA — First responders like firefighters are no strangers to stress. The job includes long hours on top of the physical and mental impacts that come with answering emergency calls regularly.
Ronnie Green, a retired Bangor firefighter and 4th district vice president for the Professional Firefighters of Maine union said over the past several years there has been a struggle to hire full-time firefighters across Maine.
“We’re seeing young people in this state and in this world today that just don’t want to live at the firehouse,” Green said. “50, 60, 75 years ago, firefighters would literally move into the firehouse and live there several days at a time.”
Green told NEWS CENTER Maine, that about 40 years ago, firefighters started having to work 56 hour work weeks.
“You work a 24-hour shift on duty, and then you go home for 48 hours, and then you come back to do it all over again,” explained Green. “We call it 56 hours because it averages out to 56 hours over the course of a week.”
Recently, fire departments in Maine have been getting away from the 56-hour schedule and switching to a 42-hour workweek. Firefighters work either one or two 24-hour shifts at the firehouse a week.
“Nobody dials 911 on their best day,” said Green. “It’s always on their worst day they call us. We’re seeing some pretty traumatic things out there. Especially, with the elevated drug use. [The 42-hour workweek provides] a little bit of stress relief and gets the guys out of that job for a few extra hours a week.”
Green says firefighters in Orono switched from 56 to 42-hour workweeks last July.
Old Town started a shorter week at the begging of the year. York and Waterville will start the new 42-hour workweek this July. Also, the Gardiner Fire Department made the switch before the pandemic. The department’s fire chief says the change has helped them keep their staff where it needs to be.
“For us, we haven’t really lost anybody in quite a while,” said Gardiner Fire Cheif Rick Sieberg. “It makes a big difference having that extra time off in between to rest and recharge.”
Green shared he's in the middle of negotiating contracts with two departments. Those contracts include the shortened workweek. He added, firefighters haven't and won't take a pay cut with the shortened hours because their hourly rates change accordingly.
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