Out and about on New Year’s Eve

While many Maricopans will be out having a good time on New Year’s Eve, there are those at the ready to serve, whether it’s public safety, working the convenience store counter, or serving drinks and meals to those celebrating the holiday.

For the Maricopa Fire Department, it doesn’t matter whether it’s a weekday, weekend or holiday — the staffing is always the same.

“We never change our staffing levels,” said Brad Pitassi, MFD senior public information officer. “We have four, fully staffed fire stations with four firefighters on duty at each station and one battalion chief on duty 24/7 every day of the year.”

Take heed, if planning to consume alcohol during the holiday weekend, consider having a taxi or designated driver lined up — the Maricopa Police Department will be participating in the Pinal County Regional DUI Task Force Thursday through Saturday night.

The task force has been active each weekend since Thanksgiving.

While police officers and firefighters will be the only city employees scheduled to work on New Year’s Eve, some of the Development Services staff will be on call, said city spokeswoman LaTricia Woods.