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Plant City firefighters seeing high turnover rate, citing workforce and burnout issues

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Published  March 25, 2025 10:44pm EDT
Plant City
FOX 13 News

Firefighters worry about high turnover rates

FOX 13's Evyn Moon reports on Plant City firefighters having high turnover rates because of high work hours and low staff, all while dealing with increased service calls.

The Brief

    • Plant City firefighters work roughly 400 more hours than firefighters in surrounding counties.
    • High hours are contributing to a high turnover rate of Plant City firefighters.
    • Despite insufficient firefighters, Plant City’s fire department receives increasing service calls.

PLANT CITY, Fla. - The Plant City Professional Firefighter's Union says their fire department has a high turnover rate because of high work hours and low staff. 

It seems they can’t keep up with the number of calls, allegedly working hundreds more hours than other fire departments across the state. 

Plant City Fire Rescue Station No. 3.

"Our biggest problem is retention. We're losing people. We've lost like 36 people or so since around 2018. We've lost that many people. A lot of departments around us work a lot less hours than we do," said David Jackson, president of Plant City Professional Firefighters. 

By the numbers:

With a small department of only 50 personnel, over 50% of the workforce has left in the last few years. In comparison to other departments, over a year.

READ: Most dangerous beaches in America are in Florida: Researchers

"Four hundred more hours. They roughly get an extra 17 shifts off," said Jackson. "We've lost quite a few in the last year to Pasco County because Pasco is the closest one around here that has gone to what is called a D-shift." 

Plant City fire truck.

To firefighters, a 'D-shift' refers to one day on, three days off, instead of two. Even with what FOX 13 is told is dwindling staff and resources, they are answering more calls than ever. 

"When I first started, a long time ago, we were running, you know, a few hundred calls a year. Now, our department last year, more like over 7,000 calls or close to 7,000 calls out of a two-station department." 

Jackson says it can affect mental health. 

Big picture view:

FOX 13 also spoke with a Florida lawmaker who wrote a firefighter safety bill that mentions work hours. 

The bill introduced by Alvarez.

"It recommends that firefighters work a 42-hour workweek. I think most people would be surprised to know that firefighters work way past a 42-hour workweek. Typically, they work one day on and two days off," said State Rep. Danny Alvarez (R-Hillsborough County). "That’s really the schedule in Florida. What we're finding is that interrupts their sleep pattern, which interrupts their ability to heal and restorative health sleeping, and therefore that trauma begins to creep in."

READ: Manatee County leaders crack down on dust from construction sites after resident complaints

Alvarez continued, saying, "Protecting firefighters and the people that protect us is tantamount to the biggest responsibility leaders and a politicians should have. Those are the folks that we have to care about the most, and unfortunately, they don't do a great job of telling their story." 

What's next:

The Plant City Commission has moved to help, adding an extra ambulance to their fleet and nine more employees to staff the ambulance. 

Plant City fire truck.

The union says the big push this year is to reduce work hours statewide.

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Jackson says the union is also putting up candidates for the local city commission in Plant City to continue to make changes. That local election is in early April. 

FOX 13 has not spoken with any current city commissioners or those running for the positions.

The Source: FOX 13's Evyn Moon collected the information in this story.

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