City of University Heights reduces the minimum staffing of its fire department by 14% from 7 to 6 firefighters on April 1, 2009.

The scope of demands on the fire service has been increasing through time as different hazards and threats on personal and community safety have evolved. Likewise, the fire service, including the 27 full-time professional members of Local 974, has risen to meet these requests for help. In order to meet these needs, fire departments must provide adequate numbers of highly trained personnel to address emergencies in a timely manner. The nature of many incidents requires simultaneous coordinated actions to achieve the best outcome and this requires immediate manpower.

Minimum staffing is the minimum number of firefighters that are on duty on any given day. Though there is usually more staff assigned to a shift, nine in the case of University Heights, the number present on a given day will be lowered due to circumstances such as sickness, injury, or vacation. The minimum staffing threshold is in place to provide for a minimum number of firefighters to operate on emergency scenes. This number is dictated by city administration and may not meet or come close to meeting national and industry standards of appropriate and safe staffing.

In November of 1989, the citizens of University Heights passed Issue 41 with the support of Local 974. This provided for the establishment of paramedic service in the City of University Heights which was lagging behind neighboring cities in providing this important life-saving advance. Through this vote, the residents showed that they desired and valued the service University Heights firefighters had provided and would provide in the future.

After passage of Issue 41, the City added five personnel to obtain the expected staffing of 30 line firefighters. The minimum staffing at this time was seven. Shortly thereafter, in the early 1990’s, the department staffing was reduced from 30 line firefighters to 27 and it maintained a seven man minimum shift. This staffing remained unchanged until the reduction of minimum staffing to six on April 1, 2009. Many cities say that a reduction in staffing will not effect operations. While they acknowledge a risk with reducing staffing, they say it is one they are willing to take. The question is then, are the residents willing to accept this risk in their time of need? The simple fact is that SIX (6) does not equal SEVEN (7). The significance of one firefighter on the fire ground and also how it impacts day to day operations is profound. Look for another posting as we explore this topic further. We’ll examine the effects lower staffing has on the operations of the fire department.