I'M NOT SURE WHERE MY QUESTION BEST FITS, BUT HERE IT GOES ANYWAY. HOW MANY CHIEFS DOES YOUR DEPARTMENT HAVE IN RELATION TO FF'S, STATIONS, CALL VOLUME, AREA COVERED, POPULATION? HERE'S OUR SITUATION, WE RUN 1500 CALLS A YEAR, OUT OF 2 STATIONS COVERING AN AREA ABOUT 110 SQ. MILES WITH ABOUT 13,000 RESIDENTS. WE HAVE 2 FIRST OUT ENGINES, 1 LADDER, 2 TANKERS, 2 BRUSH TRUCKS, AND 2 MED UNITS ALL COVERED BY 9 ON DUTY PERSONNEL. OUR MINIMUM STAFFING IS 6 (3 AT EACH STATION). DO THE MATH, WE ARE GROSSLY UNDERSTAFFED. HERE'S THE KICKER, WE HAVE 7 CHIEFS,(4 ARE ADMINISTRATIVE, AND 3 ARE DUTY CHIEFS) AND A SECRATERY TO RUN THIS RELATIVELY SMALL OPERATION. I FORGOT TO MENTION WE HAVE A VERY SMALL BUDGET AT 2.1 MILLION PER YEAR. THERE ARE A LOT OF DAYS THAT WE HAVE A LOT MORE CHIEFS THAN FF'S ON DUTY THERE MUST BE A HELL OF ALOT OF PAPERWORK TO DO.WE JUST SEEM TO BE VERY TOP HEAVY AND ARE BATTLING WITH MANAGEMENT ON STAFFING AND WAGE ISSUES WITH NOT MUCH LUCK. ANYWAY I KNOW THIS IS ALOT OF INFO GIVEN, BUT PLEASE I'D LIKE TO HEAR ABOUT YOUR SITUATIONS AND WHAT YOU THINK. I'D ALSO LIKE TO HEAR FROM A FEW CHIEF OFFICERS AS WELL.