Austin firefighters push back against proposed budget's staffing requirement changes

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AUSTIN (KXAN) — A couple hundred Austin firefighters showed up at City Hall Monday to urge city council to prioritize public safety in its upcoming budget, and specifically raised concerns about a proposal to eliminate a staffing requirement.

In 2018, Austin City Council approved an ordinance that requires a four-person staffing minimum in all responding fire vehicles. Due to significant constraints in the budget this year, city financial staff is proposing eliminating that standard in some cases.

“The four-person staffing standard has been critical for Austin’s firefighters before the ordinance was written and must continue to not only be supported by the city but permanently backed into the budget,” Austin Firefighters Association President Chief Bob Nicks said in a news release. “Four-person staffing ensures more safety, faster response, and efficiency.”

In a statement, City Manager TC Broadnax made a distinction between different types of firefighting apparatus, saying the new staffing proposal would only impact engines — which carry water tanks and hoses. It would not impact ladder trucks (equipped with an extendable ladder for operating at elevated heights), quints (trucks that can perform the roles of both an engine and ladder truck) and rescues (carries specialized equipment for rescue operations beyond firefighting, such as tools for vehicle extrications, hazardous materials response and water rescues).

“This adjustment will allow the City of Austin to staff appropriately, making the best use of taxpayer dollars, while maintaining the Austin Fire Department’s exceptional level of service and ensuring firefighters can reduce work-week hours to improve their work/life balance and emotional and physical wellbeing,” Broadnax said.

International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) General President Edward Kelly was also present at the event Monday. He too, is warning about the dangers of changing minimum staffing levels.

“Cutting corners on firefighter staffing has deadly consequences,” said an IAFF news release. “Kelly just returned from Fall River, Massachusetts, where a massive fire at an assisted living facility claimed the lives of 10 of its residents. Following this tragedy, Fall River agreed to increase firefighter staffing.”

“As I always have, I appreciate the firefighters letting the public and council know their position, including on budget and safety issues. I deeply appreciate their opinion, their input, and all they do for our community. We’ve just started the budget process with the manager’s base proposal last week, and I understand the union’s disagreement with the manager. The next few weeks will offer the opportunity to evaluate this recommendation, as well as numerous others, and make final determinations. The council and I are looking at all aspects of the budget and the manager’s proposal in a very difficult budget year. However, I feel confident that we will end up with a balanced budget that emphasizes and protects public safety and, importantly, protects the safety of our firefighters. I believe we’ll get to the right place in a tough budget time.”

Austin Mayor Kirk Watson

Budget presentation

During the budget presentation last week, city financial staff said staffing changes have been done at the police department.

“The staffing changes that have been done in police and the recommendation for fire, these are things that we looked at … were very aware of, how can we make adjustments, how can we balance the budget without reducing service levels to the community?” said Kerri Lang, Austin’s budget department director.

Austin City Council Member Krista Laine questioned that proposal, asking staff to explain the impact reducing staff could have on emergency response.

“The staffing model is the best solution that we have at the table right now to make sure that every fire station, every unit is still staffed with trained firefighters and personnel to respond to these emergency fire and medical calls,” Austin Fire Chief Joel Baker responded in part.

Baker noted that the fire department is desperately trying to avoid browning or blacking out fire stations — meaning temporarily not staffing a station or closing one altogether.

Baker also said the proposed change would mean Austin doesn’t meet the recommended national standard for the number of personnel in a unit, in the vehicles that have three firefighters instead of four, but Austin would still meet the recommended standard for the number of people at a scene.

“I think it’s really important to, and particularly in this time with so much revenue and cost constraint, to right-size our response, but it’s also critically important not to sacrifice what we have to have happen, which is effective response,” Laine said. She said if the city goes down this path, she wants to see regular data ensuring that response remains effective.

Baker sent KXAN a written response Monday which said, in-part: “AFD will continue to staff ladders, quints, and rescue trucks with four firefighters. Engines will be staffed with a minimum of three and sometimes four if enough staff are available…AFD will continue to send eight units to a structure fire; equivalent to 26 firefighters, less than the 32 firefighters currently sent, but still far above the National Fire Protection Association’s standard of 16-17 firefighters.”

The proposal is not set in stone; the city still has to work through a robust budget process. Because of difficult budget cuts like this one, Austin leaders will discuss a possible tax rate election in their Audit and Finance Committee meeting Tuesday.

Watson spoke with KXAN last week about that possibility, and the process of deciding whether or not it’s necessary:

You can find more information about the budget proposal here.

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