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Fire and police union leaders tell council staffing and workload are improving but fire leaders warn current staffing falls short of NFPA 1710
Summary
Local police and firefighter union leaders praised city support and recruitment, while the firefighters’ union president urged the council to consider increased staffing to meet NFPA 1710 standards amid rising call volume and multifamily development.
Union leaders for police and fire told the council that morale and recruitment are strong after recent pay and benefits improvements, but the fire union warned that current crew sizes and high call volume create risks on large or multifamily fires.
“People have never been happier as far as I can tell,” Alex, president of IAF Local 552 (Ogden chapter), told the council, praising recent wage and recruitment progress while urging attention to staffing levels.
TJ Scott, president of the Ogden Police Benevolent Association and a narcotics task force officer, told the council he has received “very few gripes” from members and said officers feel “taken care of” after recent cost-of-living and merit adjustments. John Thomas, vice president of the Weber Fraternal Order of Police, said recruitment is easier when officers feel supported by council and administration and asked the council to continue to consider a manpower study as the city grows.
Fire union president Alex backed his staffing request with the NFPA 1710 standard and department data. He said the department ran about 22,000 calls last year with “just over a hundred firefighters” and that the city is frequently operating engines with three or even two firefighters on initial response. In a video shown to the council he summarized the NFPA 1710 benchmarks: “For a low hazard single family house fire, NFPA 1710 specifies a minimum of 15 firefighters dispatched in the initial alarm,” and the standard calls for four firefighters per engine in many residential areas.
Alex said evolving occupancy — more high‑density multifamily and other higher‑hazard buildings — increases risk and that staffing shortfalls can leave the city without suppression apparatus in place during incidents. He described mutual aid patterns and noted that increases in staffing could reduce overtime and callbacks currently used to fill rigs during large incidents.
Councilmembers thanked union leaders and asked staff to continue tracking call volume and to provide data on turnover and staffing by department. No formal staffing decisions were made during the session; union leaders urged that the council consider a manpower study and long‑term staffing plan as part of budget discussions.
