Wood River Fire Department To Start Year-Long Trial Of New Shift Schedule

Wood River City Council Meeting

WOOD RIVER – A new work schedule for the Wood River Fire Department was approved this week on a one-year trial basis in an effort to boost the wellness and work-life balance of the city’s firefighters.

On April 6, 2026, City Council members unanimously approved an ordinance amending the Collective Bargaining Agreement between the city and the International Association of Firefighters Local 2371 to modify the work schedule of union Fire Department employees for a one-year trial period.

Fire Chief Wade Stahlhut has advised city officials that the purpose of this schedule change is to meet an increased volume of calls to the department and “promote work-life balance of firefighters” while also promoting overall firefighter wellness, the ordinance states.

The trial period will start on April 19, 2026 and end on April 3, 2026 under a Memorandum of Understanding between the firefighters union and the City of Wood River. City and union leaders are set to meet in mid-November of 2026 to decide whether to continue with the new schedule or revert to the department’s original schedule once the trial period ends.

The Wood River Fire Department currently uses a “modified Kelly schedule” under which three different “shifts” of firefighters – A, B, and C – alternate 24-hour workdays. A-shift firefighters work three 24-hour shifts with 24-hour breaks between the first two shifts, followed by four days (or 96 hours) off after their third shift. This repeats every nine days in an “A/C/A/B/A/B/C/B/C” pattern.

The newly approved “48/96” schedule consists of a six-day rotation in which each shift works two consecutive 24-hour shifts, followed by four consecutive days, or 96 hours, off. This results in a repeating shift rotation of “AA/BB/CC” every six days.

Noting the potential for these 48-hour tours to be excessively busy with multiple overnight calls, the agreement calls for a chief officer and the shift commander to meet at 8 a.m. on both days of each 48-hour tour to discuss expectations and potential downtime for shift personnel as needed “to maximize efficiency and to help manage fatigue throughout the 48-hour tour.”

The new schedule also includes special considerations for Christmas and Christmas Eve, allowing shifts of firefighters scheduled to work both days to swap their Dec. 24 workday with another shift scheduled for Dec. 23. The memorandum notes that both the old and new schedules total the same number of working hours at 2,756 per year, or about 53 to 56 hours per week, though forced overtime may be required in some circumstances.

A full recording of the April 6, 2026 Wood River City Council meeting is available at the top of this story or on Riverbender.com/video.

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