Fire chief granted more staffing for flood, tornado response

Jefferson City leaders allowed staffing additional firefighters while handling historic floods and recovery from last month’s tornado.

Fire Chief Matthew Schofield requested that the city temporarily change the city’s agreement with the Jefferson City Professional Firefighters Local 671 so the department can “fulfill its public safety mission,” according to the resolution.

Click here to read the resolution in the packet for Monday’s City Council meeting.

The council unanimously approved the measure Monday.

Schofield is now able to change the definition of “minimum staffing” while the mayor’s declaration of emergency remains in effect. Mayor Carrie Tergin signed a declaration for emergency in May ahead of Missouri River flooding, and updated the declaration immediately after the May 22 tornado.

Tergin said there’s no telling when the declaration will be lifted.

“We’re monitoring the river levels but a lot of that is completely out of our hands,” Tergin said. “What we can control, though, is to say that we will be prepared. We’re going to do what is takes and make sure that our community is safe.”

“These emergencies caused a need for minimum manning strength to be temporarily increased to be sufficient to protect the city,” the resolution states.

The Jefferson City Professional Firefighters Local 671, the firefighters union, did not immediately respond for a comment Monday afternoon. Schofield said the group approved of the measure.

Schofield said there is no estimate for the additional cost of overtime, but that the department is already in an “overtime situation” after a tornado touched down last month.

“This allows us a little bit of latitude in our ability to schedule that overtime on a daily basis. So we’re able to adjust the minimum staffing per day,” Schofield said.