Over 20 Durham firefighters in quarantine after possible COVID exposure

More than 20 Durham firefighters are under quarantine due to potential COVID-19 exposure, the Durham Fire Department said Tuesday.

The 21 firefighters make up 5.9% of the department’s operations staff, but Fire Chief Robert Zoldos stresses that the quarantines have not affected the department’s service.

“The local fire engine that someone counts on is there,” Zoldos told The News & Observer. “It’s staffed today, it’ll be staffed tomorrow, it’ll be staffed forever — and there’s never been a worry with that.”

Since March, when the first coronavirus case was diagnosed in North Carolina, 30 members of the department’s operations staff have tested positive for COVID-19, according to a department news release.

Those who test positive for the virus are required to isolate for 14 days, while those who are exposed must do so for 10, Zoldos said, which is in compliance with current Center for Disease Control guidelines.

The fire department issued a statement Tuesday with the quarantine data as several news outlets previously reported 35 or 36 firefighters are under quarantine.

The fire department says those figures are inaccurate. Zoldos told The N&O he doesn’t know where the 36 figure came from, adding that the number of firefighters in quarantine is always “fluid” and can change by the day.

“We know we go to COVID-positive patients,” he said. “Because of that, we’re exposed more than a normal populace.”

But Jimie Wright, president of Professional Firefighters of Durham IAFF, Local 688, told The N&O that the union knew of 35 firefighters in quarantine as of Monday.

“The number changes daily and is only as accurate as reported by our human resources department, who makes all final decisions on who is quarantined and when they are released,” Wright said in a statement over email. “As of yesterday that number was 35, today it could be 21 and tomorrow it’s likely to be yet different again.”

He said the department has had as many as 65 firefighters in quarantine at one time.

Wright, like Zoldos, said the quarantine has not affected the department’s service.

Firefighters, considered “frontline essential workers,” are among the next groups in North Carolina to get the coronavirus vaccine. According to the state’s vaccine plan, frontline essential workers who are 50 or older will be eligible for vaccine in Phase 1b, Group 2. Other frontline essential workers of any age will follow.

Zoldos said the Durham Fire Department firefighters anticipate getting the vaccine in the coming weeks.

This story was originally published January 12, 2021 at 5:00 PM with the headline "Over 20 Durham firefighters in quarantine after possible COVID exposure."