Assistant chiefs earn OT on top of salaries

LIMA — In 2009, the city paid $756,000 in overtime to firefighters.

Of that, $65,839 went to three officers, Assistant Chiefs Gregory Kirkendall, Eddie Hower and David McDermitt.

The three men who rank second in command under the chief each made more than $100,000 in 2009. That comes in large part because they earn hourly overtime in addition to their salaries, a public records request following up The Lima News’ annual salary project showed.

Firefighters’ responsibilities are different, Chief Mark Heffner said, and require different compensation.

“If we get a fire call, everybody moves,” Heffner said. “Depending on the severity of the call, everyone but me could respond. That’s an important distinction between us and every other business. We don’t have additional personnel to perform administrative duties. We do those and we go out and do the work on the street also.”

McDermitt and Hower’s base salaries both came to about $74,500. Kirkendall’s came to about $76,600; he makes a slightly higher hourly rate because he has a paramedic license.

Kirkendall earned $26,424 in overtime, while Hower earned $23,012, and McDermitt earned $16,403. All three men also cashed in vacation and holiday pay, according to payroll records.

Heffner became chief and Kirkendall, Hower and McDermitt became assistants in 2008 after multiple retirements.

Assistant chiefs and Heffner are not part of the union, Heffner said, but they receive parity in benefits according to city ordinance. Heffner receives a base salary of $86,779 but does not earn overtime. Heffner also cashed in vacation for a total compensation in 2009 of $91,468.

 All fire firefighters have 53-hour workweeks, Heffner said. Also, assistant chiefs receive overtime while their counterparts, Lima police majors, do not, because they are attached to shifts and fire response teams, Heffner said.

Either an assistant chief or platoon chief is on duty at all times, Heffner said.

“They have responsibilities at a fire under an incident commander and they have quite a few day-to-day administrative duties,” Heffner said. “They’re putting in substantial amounts of their time at these fire stations.”

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