Firefighters Took Care Of Other People In The Pandemic. Now, The Department's Working To Take Care Of Its Own

Arlington TX

06 April, 2022

7:20 PM

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By Alexis Allison | Emily Wolf, Fort Worth Report April 6, 2022 Paulo Gonzalez has seen many people's worst days. At 25, he was three months into recruitment at the Fort Worth Fire Department when Sept. 11 happened. He and his colleagues stopped training to watch the towers burn — an image that would set the tone for his next decades of service. "The 343 firefighters that gave their lives, that really solidified the level of sacrifice that I might have to do one day," he said. When the pandemic began, Gonzalez tried to approach his ever-increasing duties with the same mindset of the first-responders on that September day — "charging into a building" to help the people who needed it most. And he and his colleagues did so: Amassing more and more hours to respond to the crises of their time. In 2021, firefighter overtime pay more than doubled from the year before — from roughly $14 million to over $30 million. But the true cost has no dollar amount: Lagging slowly but surely behind the uptick in workloads is increased concern for firefighters' wellbeing, and recognition for services and resources to help the people who help people. To read the full article, click here. Fort Worth Report is a nonpartisan, nonprofit news organization that produces factual, in-depth journalism about city and county government, schools, healthcare, business, and arts and culture in Tarrant County. Always free to read; subscribe to newsletters, read coverage or support our newsroom at fortworthreport.org.