Austin firefighters union rallies against budget proposal to have 3-person crews instead of 4

AUSTIN, Texas - Firefighters filled the steps outside City Hall rallying against the city manager's proposal to repeal a four-firefighter staffing minimum. 

The city's budget proposal cuts 8.3 million from overtime by restructuring staffing and having three firefighters on most trucks instead of four.

Austin Firefighters Association responds

What they're saying:

"This is a reckless action, it's unsafe for the firefighters and the citizens," Bob Nicks, president of the Austin Firefighters Association, said. 

He says four-person staffing is a national safety standard.

"I want to be clear, this is for medical runs, this is for fire runs, it's for firefighter safety, this is for the safety of the community," he said. 

He says training involves around four-person staffing, and having three would be more dangerous, particularly in wildfires or apartment and high-rise fires.

Dig deeper:

In 2018, City Council passed the four-firefighter minimum staffing ordinance after years of the union trying to solidify it. 

"On January 1, 2026, the city manager hopes to slash firefighter staffing to unsafe levels on 48 of our 50 fire engines, reducing firefighter staffing by 25%. This is outrageous," Nicks said. 

One firefighter, Sara Coon, read an excerpt from the after-action report of a fire when her crew briefly went to three-person staff during severe weather.

"'With a fourth firefighter there, I could have continued to flow water, find the fire and extinguish it, while the other firefighter and officer could have moved the first and second victims out of the house faster, more efficiently and under lower heat conditions,'" she read.

Ed Kelly, general president of the International Association of Firefighters, brought up a case last week. At least nine people died in a Massachusetts assisted living facility. 

"Had the Fall River Fire Department been staffed up to those national standards of four persons, four firefighters, per engine company, per ladder company, per rescue company, lives would have been saved," Kelly said.

What are the four types of firefighting units?

The City of Austin says there are four types of firefighting units: engines, ladders, quints and rescues. 

Fire engines, also called pumpers, carry water tanks and hoses. Ladder trucks are equipped with a mechanical, extendable ladder and other tools for operating at elevated heights. Quints are trucks that can perform the roles of both a pumper and ladder truck. A rescue truck carries specialized equipment for rescue operations like vehicle extractions, hazardous materials' response, water rescues, or other complex emergencies.

What they're saying:

The following statement is from Austin Fire Chief Joel Baker:

"The City of Austin is in the midst of a significant budget shortfall that requires every department to explore how we continue providing vital services, not whether we continue providing them.

The Austin Fire Department’s staffing and response plan continues to ensure that we exceed national standards for total number of firefighters responding to structure fires, reduces our dependency on overtime, and enables us to provide staff with shorter work weeks, consistent with their requests.

The ordinance currently requires AFD to staff every truck/apparatus with four people. Period. This requires AFD to rely on overtime to ensure all units are staffed with at least four people. Revising the ordinance will provide flexibility to operate this department while prioritizing firefighter safety, operational effectiveness, and financial efficiency. 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. (For example, if minimum daily staffing is achieved, additional firefighters will be available to staff an engine as the fourth person.) 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.

We want our community and first responders to remain safe while carefully balancing our budget and honoring our staff’s need to rest and recover. We also know that we can’t continue to rely on overtime, especially as budgets get tighter.

The Austin Fire Department remains committed to its core mission and will continue meeting the needs of our community by adapting our processes using the responsive staffing model made possible by the repeal of the current ordinance."

The following statement is from Austin City Manager T.C. Broadnax:

"The change to a four/three staffing model would not impact the Austin Fire Department’s response time to emergencies. The same number of firefighting apparatuses respond to a scene as with the four-person staffing model. The four/three model allows AFD to have 26 firefighters on the scene, which is above the National Fire Protection Association’s recommendations of 17 personnel on scene.

What the change would accomplish is to place the decision-making authority on staffing back with the Austin Fire Department in order to assign and deploy resources in the most effective manner, cutting down on overtime and allowing firefighters to benefit from much-needed rest. 

Under the new model, ladders, quints, and rescues will all continue to maintain four-person staffing. Engines will be staffed with an officer, a driver, and one firefighter instead of two firefighters. The second firefighter will be moved to cover vacancies on other apparatus when needed or can serve as the fourth on an engine. This method of reallocating personnel ensures all apparatus are available to respond and it enables paying less overtime for mandatory backfill.

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."

AustinAustin City Council