13.03 Fire Force

   The City shall maintain a fire force consisting of an officer in charge thereof and of such number of other officers, firefighters and employees as may be fixed in accordance with the provisions of Section 5.09 of this Charter. In case of riot, conflagration, or like emergency, the City Manager may appoint additional officers and firefighters for temporary service who need not be in the classified service of the City. The officer directly in charge of the fire force shall have control of the stationing and other disposition of the force under rules and regulations as he or she may establish with the approval of the City Manager.

   (A)   On and after January 1, 1954, the Chief of the Fire Division of the City of Hamilton, Ohio, shall divide the uniform force of said fire force into not less than two platoons. The Chief shall keep a platoon of the uniform force on duty twenty-four consecutive hours, after which the platoon serving twenty-four hours shall be allowed to remain off duty at least twenty-four consecutive hours. Each individual member of the platoons, in addition to receiving a minimum of twenty-four hours off duty in each period of forty-eight hours, shall receive an additional period of twenty-four consecutive hours off duty in each period of six days so that no individual member shall be on duty more than a total of ninety-six hours in each consecutive period of twelve days each.

      In the discretion of the Chief of the Fire Division, the fire force may be divided into a three platoon system, wherein the members work twenty-four consecutive hours immediately followed by forty-eight consecutive hours off duty, and in order to carry out the terms of this section, the Council of the City of Hamilton, Ohio, shall levy an additional tax outside of any legal limitations for Fire Division purposes at a rate of one mill ($.001) for each one dollar ($1.00) of valuation, which amounts to ten cents ($0.10) for each one hundred dollars ($100.00) of valuation.