Dayton officials discuss ending relief association, shifting to daytime duty-crew staffing for fire response

Dayton City officials and fire leadership at a city work session reviewed a plan to dissolve the volunteer relief association and move the department toward a daytime duty-crew staffing model, saying the change is intended to improve response predictability as the city’s call volume rises.

Fire Chief said the relief association voted March 27 to dissolve, with an effective date the chief said would be Sept. 30, 2025, and reminded council members that the City Council approved a related resolution last December (Resolution 60-2024). “The biggest thing … I wanna pass along to the city council is that the reason I'm ensuring this is because there is a cost to the relief association to dissolve,” the chief said during the presentation.

The discussion centered on why Dayton is moving away from a primarily paid-on-call model. Staff told council members the department currently has about 26 paid-on-call firefighters across two stations, and historically averages roughly 2.4 calls per day. Leadership said 78% of calls occur between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m., which is the window the duty-crew model would cover. The department reported about 606 total calls last year, of which staff said 167 were fire calls and 438 were medical responses.

Proponents said a duty-crew approach — staffing Station 2 with minimum daytime crews (examples presented: 7 a.m.–10 p.m. weekdays and reduced weekend hours) — would reduce turnout times, lower burnout and create regular daytime staffing for inspections, preplans and community risk-reduction work that paid-on-call members often can’t complete. Assistant Chief Kevin described how the duty-crew schedule would place firefighters physically at the station for short shifts so crews could perform truck and facility maintenance, public relations and inspection work rather than waiting at home for a page.

Council members and others pressed staff on costs, scheduling and trade-offs. One council member asked, “During that 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., what's our average calls per day right now?” Staff replied the 2.4 figure represents calls averaged so far this year, and pointed to fluctuations by month and by dispatch system changes in late 2024. The chief said the city’s paid-on-call cost last year ran roughly $167,000, and that equipping and training a single firefighter from scratch can cost on the order of $17,000.

Members debated patient-contact value on low-acuity medical calls. Several council members questioned what firefighters add at certain medical incidents beyond being “a friendly face,” while the chief and other presenters argued that initial vital signs, scene safety, and early interventions (for example, epinephrine for anaphylaxis) are clinically meaningful and that firefighters’ presence can also support family members on scene. A city-contracted partner, Amy, identified in the session as a representative of Care Resource Connections, said, “So far this year, we have 4, 4 open cases. 4.” She and staff also said the referral program has reduced repeat calls from enrolled clients by roughly 30% since 2024, though staff said not every fall or lift-assist call is appropriate for referral.

Discussion also covered mutual-aid and dispatch delays. Staff warned that the Rogers truck that previously supplemented Dayton responses is expected to be withdrawn in August, which could increase response delays for about 200 calls that had relied on that resource. Presenters noted county dispatch staffing shortages and occasional CAD queuing that can delay dispatching units, and said those external factors further motivate the case for predictable local daytime coverage.

The session recorded no formal new council motion or vote authorizing immediate hiring or budget changes. Staff asked for council reaffirmation of the direction to continue development of the staffing model and to use existing funds, and described dependencies and next steps: finalizing relief-association dissolution legal work with the city attorney, defining duty-crew schedules, determining whether to hire two full-time positions to augment day coverage, and clarifying pension/PERA implications for scheduled hours.

City leaders and firefighters acknowledged that the proposed model will not solve every turnout or staffing issue immediately. Several council members suggested alternative scheduling ideas such as staggered chief coverage, on-call pay for home-based availability, or different shift lengths. No final staffing or budget decision was made at the work session; the meeting adjourned after extended discussion and questions.

Looking ahead, staff said they will return with more detailed scheduling options, cost estimates tied to the city budget, and clarifications on pension and relief-association financial impacts before any formal vote.