FINDLAY, Ohio — People in the Findlay area can expect three minutes and 45 seconds in totality during the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity of the total solar eclipse on April 8.
As a result, the city is bracing for lots of visitors. And with more people comes more traffic. While this will be great for businesses and the city, administrators said they want the city to stay safe.
"We're going to close certain offices that day so they can stay home with their families and we can reduce traffic on the streets," said Rob Martin, Findlay's service safety director. "We can't control the people that are coming into our community, but hopefully we can mitigate the risk and reduce the traffic with the people that are local."
The city plans to reduce traffic by giving everyone who works for the city eight hours of paid time off. Those who work for departments that will be closed on April 8, will use the time for that day.
But what about essential workers?
Findlay Fire Chief Josh Eberly said he'll be working the big day, and so will most Findlay firefighters.
"You get more people in town, we expect our call volume to go up," he said.
Eberly said the department will increase the number of firefighters on duty from its usual 15 to about 30.
The city plans for those firefighters and other essential employees like police officers to be able to use their eight hours of PTO at a later date in 2024.
Martin added that the extra day off shouldn't cost taxpayers at all.
Eberly said he's glad to hear non-essential city workers will have the day off because it will reduce the traffic and help the department respond to calls faster.
"I think it's safer for everybody," Eberly said. "I want people to enjoy the event and really take advantage of it, but at the end of the day we want people to stay as safe as possible."
Eberly recommends people stay off the roads if they can on April 8. He adds in any case, people should have food at home and a full tank of gas the weekend prior.