Some police, fire departments see staffing problems due to COVID-19

That didn’t affect how many people were able to respond to calls, said Maj. Matt Sturgeon of the Riverside Police Department. The greatest effect on the Riverside Police was when two detectives out of the total of four were out.

Riverside Fire Chief Daniel Stitzel said the department is now back up to full staffing. A few members of the fire department were out last month as well due to family members testing positive for COVID-19, he said.

“It is affecting us, but not that much,” Stitzel said.

Steve Agenbroad, chief of the Clearcreek Twp. Fire Department, said he has seen a few firefighters get sick again in the past few weeks. However, more firefighters have been affected after their kids have been exposed to COVID-19 at school and someone has to stay home with them, Agenbroad said. He said it was rare that someone was exposed to COVID-19 during work.

“We’ve been relatively fortunate,” he said.

He said they have a detailed plan for if more members of the fire department have to leave due to COVID-19.

Sturgeon said the Riverside Police Department has kept the different shifts of police officers separate so that anyone who does get sick with COVID-19 does not cross-contaminate their shifts.

Fairborn Police Captain Ben Roman said if an officer does have contact with someone that is COVID-19 positive, the department will obtain details in regards to the exposure. They then contact Greene County Public Health and explain the exposure to them, and Greene County will give recommendations, which vary based on exposure.

Kettering Fire Chief Mitch Robbins said more Kettering firefighters have been affected by COVID-19 in the past month. There were some staffing shortages recently, he said. But he said they have a continuity of operations plan in place to continue operations.

“Obviously in the middle of a pandemic you’re going to have employees that are exposed, and come into contact with someone who has come into contact with this,” he said. “We follow daily staffing levels and operate based off of that plan.”

In Huber Heights, both the police and fire chiefs said no one was currently out due to COVID-19 and they were not having staffing issues.