PATERSON, NJ - As workers in almost every industry have shifted to “remote working” models in attempts to stave off COVID-19, those in public safety, including firefighters, continue to go about their work. The impact, Kyle Hughes, President of FMBA Local 2, the union that represents Paterson’s rank-and-file firefighters, said, is being felt.

As of Tuesday, Hughes told TAPinto Paterson, at least four members of the Paterson Fire Department have tested positive for coronavirus, a number he expects to grow as more tests come back. Despite the best efforts to contain further spread, “this is just the beginning,” Hughes predicted, before adding an assurance that “we will get through this.”

To be sure, Paterson’s firefighters are practicing the tenets of social distancing, both on the job and off. “For us the firehouse is a second home, the men and women we serve with are our second families,” Hughes said. “It is difficult to have to keep our distance from each other, but if it means helping us stay healthy, and getting Paterson on the road to recovery, it’s a temporary inconvenience that we are going to comply with fully.”