Olympia fire chief seeks additional firefighters to cut overtime, ease workload

Olympia Fire Department Chief Hillory Flowers is proposing four additional firefighters in the city’s 2027 budget to reduce overtime expenses, improve staffing flexibility, and protect personnel health and well-being.  

Flowers presented the proposal to the Olympia City Council at a meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 10. She described the proposal as a cost-neutral staffing enhancement that could potentially save the city approximately hundreds of thousands of dollars annually in overtime costs.  

“Our proposal is designed to come closer to a balanced approach of managing overtime for our membership,” Flowers said. “We believe that transitioning the predictable vacancies of sick leave from overtime to full-time employees has the potential to reduce overtime.” 

Flowers said the department operates using a four-platoon shift system to maintain round-the-clock coverage. Under the proposal, one additional firefighter would be assigned to each platoon, serving as a flexible resource to cover vacancies caused by sick leave, extended absences and other staffing needs.  

Flowers said vacation leave, personal holidays and other scheduled absences create about 1,500 hours of predictable staffing vacancies annually, excluding sick leave.  

The department projects between 12,000 and 13,000 hours of sick leave in 2026, equivalent to the workload of about five and one-half, full-time employees.  

To maintain the minimum staffing, Flowers said the department typically relies on three to six overtime shifts daily.  

She warned depending heavily on overtime to cover staffing gaps can contribute to fatigue, injuries, increased sick leave, traumatic exposure, and mandatory overtime assignments.  

“The schedule that our firefighters work is designed to have enough time to recover from both the physical and the mental aspects of the job,” Flowers said.

“There will always be overtime in the fire department. The goal is to find an appropriate balance that ensures we protect our members, their health and wellness, while maintaining the required minimum staffing for our organization.” 

Flowers estimated filling 13,500 hours of staffing gaps with regular employees instead of overtime could save the city about $450,000 annually.  

She said the department used a mid-level supervisor's wage to calculate projected overtime expenses and included a conservative estimate of about $700,000 to onboard additional firefighters. 

The new firefighters are expected to begin recruit academy training in January 2027. The 22-week program would put them on track to begin serving the department around June 1, 2027.  

The department expects overtime savings to begin in the second half of 2027, after the new firefighters complete training.  

Council member Kelly Green expressed support for the proposal, saying she was interested in seeing whether additional staffing would reduce sick leave and improve firefighter health and safety. 

Flowers said the department has coordinated with Local 468, its labor representatives, on the proposal. She added the positions could be phased out through attrition if the anticipated savings and operational benefits do not materialize. 

The department plans to monitor the results to determine whether additional staffing achieves its intended financial and operational benefits.