63 Providence Firefighters Made More Than 100K in FY 2014

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The pay totals include all of the sources of compensation received by firefighter, including base salary, longevity pay (yearly raises given to firefighters in addition to their base salary), overtime and “call back” pay, detail pay, retro pay, as well as “other” disbursements. Fiscal year 2014 was the latest available data.

Overall, the Providence firefighters who worked full-time all-year earned a total of $36,486,413.79 in total compensation. There were 435 firefighters who worked full-time in fiscal year 2014.

The average full-time Providence Firefighter earned $80,500.

However, Paul Doughty, the Providence Fire Department Union President, pointed out during an interview with GoLocalProv yesterday that the numbers, particularly on overtime, are inflated due to the fact that the city of Providence doesn’t have enough firefighters on staff.

“You have a 20 percent shortage of personnel, which correspondingly would reduce the amount of overtime pay we’re currently seeing,” said Doughty.

Doughty said that there should be 522 firefighters in Providence right now, but there were only 435 in fiscal year 2014. Doughty said there are even less now. If the department were to hire more fire fighters, they would be paid less due to the decrease in overtime that would not be needed. (Doughty said that the last few administrations have kept the amount of firefighters lower in order to decrease the benefit costs.)

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Mayor Jorge Elorza, through his spokesman Evan England, declined to comment for this story. England said that the Mayor is currently negotiating with the firefighters attempting to achieve budget savings, and didn’t want to talk about pay and benefits in public out of fear of compromising the negotiations.

Elorza earns $112,000 per year.

According to data listed on the Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training’s website, the median household income in Providence from 2009-2013 in Providence (5 year estimates) was $37,632. The per capita income in Providence was $21,676.

In the vast majority of cases, the firefighters who took home six figures were high ranking firefighters—captains, battalion chiefs, and lieutenants.

However, in some instances, there were firefighters who ranked as privates who made more than $100,000. As one example, firefighter Daniel Rinaldi made $106,665 in the 2014 fiscal year. Of that total, $34,827 came by way of overtime and “call back” pay, which are similar. The highest paid firefighter who ranked as a private was Kristopher S. Wright. Wright earned $115,583. Of that amount, $36,812 was over-time pay.

But Wright and Rinaldi paled in comparison to some of their superiors in overtime pay.

The highest earning firefighter in the Providence Fire Department was Fire Rescue Captain Vincent J. D'Ambra, who made $188,734 in fiscal year 2014. D’Ambra earned more than $100,000 in overtime alone—taking home $109,822 in that category. He earned $68,549 in base salary.

Top Earning Firefighters

Zachariah Kenyon, a Fire Rescue Captain, earned $161,117 in pay during fiscal year 2014. Kenyon earned $83,197 in overtime alone. His base pay was $68.549.

However, it should be noted that not all firefighters took home massive amounts of overtime pay. The average overtime and callback pay out (combined) per firefighter was $14,763.

In the 2014 fiscal year, there were 61 Providence firefighters who earned more than $90,000. That’s in addition to the 63 firefighters who were earned more than $100,000.

Fire department pay and compensation is an issue that has been thrust into the spotlight over the last several weeks. Earlier this year, the town of North Kingstown prevailed in a lawsuit at the RI Supreme Court level decision that gave the town the authority to restructure the town’s platoon system from 4 to 3 platoons. The move requires firefighters to, in some cases, work up to 54 hours per week for the same pay.

A Controversial Plan

Two weeks ago, Elorza announced his intentions to enact a similar plan in Providence with the goal of reducing overtime and call back expenses. Call backs occur when the department is forced to mandate firefighters to continue working or to come in to work because there aren’t enough available firefighters to man the platoon. There has to be at least 94 firefighters on duty.

"Change is never easy, and addressing Providence's fiscal challenges will require innovative solutions," said Elorza, in his press release announcing the reform two weeks ago.

The firefighters union vehemently opposes the plan. Meanwhile, there are two bills moving through the state legislature that would either put platoon shift back under the scope of collective bargaining—a move that would basically invalidate or render moot the North Kingstown Supreme Court decision—or force firefighters to be paid overtime regardless of the platoon shift schedules. The state firefighters union is pushing the bills by arguing that forcing firefighters to work longer shifts without pay is unfair and unsafe. Providence Mayor Jorge Elorza opposes both bills.

Ken Block, who ran for Governor last year, and conducted a study of firefighting costs in Rhode Island earlier this year, said the costs of firefighting need to be reined in.

“In all too many cases people can make the numbers say what they want them to. The reality here in Rhode Island is firefighters are well paid and they should be. The question is should they be paid more than firefighters in many other parts of the country, and the answer is no because we simply can’t afford it,” said Block.

Doughty, however, disagrees with the notion that Providence firefighters are overpaid.

Doughty said that the Providence Firefighters Union will continue to oppose the changes to the platoon shifts as long as they don’t correspond with increased compensation.

“I don’t think…anyone would appreciate being told by their employer that they’re going to be forced to work extra hours but without additional compensation. It’s about fairness,” said Doughty.

Related Slideshow: Active Fire Fighters Making Over $100K

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