Oct. 15--Two Chicago Fire Department employees worked as extras on the "Chicago Fire" TV show when they shouldn't have been doing so, city Inspector General Joseph Ferguson said Thursday in a report that highlighted several apparent violations by employees working on the NBC show.
In one case, a deputy district chief was on duty while he worked on the hit program, which focuses on the lives and loves of a bunch of exceedingly good looking Chicago firefighters and often uses real firefighters as extras, Ferguson said in his quarterly report.
The deputy district chief retired before he could be disciplined, but Ferguson's report says the city Law Department sought compensation and received a full payment of $1,634 for the time he was on duty while on the set of the show.
In another case, a firefighter worked on the show while on medical leave, Ferguson reported. He was fired from the Chicago Fire Department, according to Ferguson.
The watchdog also recommended that both the Fire Department and Police Department workers appearing on the show fill out their own time sheets from the program, so as not to be accused of moonlighting there when they're supposed to be on duty.
And the inspector general noted that firefighters have been trading work shifts with one another to get time off to work on the TV show, which he said is in violation of the firefighters union contract that prohibits trading shifts for outside employment.
In addition, Ferguson dinged firefighters and paramedics for bringing their own gear to work on the TV show in apparent violation of department rules.
jebyrne@tribpub.com
