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Fire chief highlights EMS coverage area, staffing gaps and grant wins
Summary
Fire Chief Crystal Bell told the council the department covers a 202‑square‑mile ambulance service area, has struggled with vacancies but used grant funding and the city services fee to restore positions and to fund training, and has several FEMA and state grants supporting equipment and staffing pilots.
Fire Chief Crystal Bell briefed the council on department operations, staffing and grants.
Bell said the fire department has 92.5 funded positions but has struggled with vacancies (as many as 12 during a prior period, later reduced to about six). The department’s biennial budget is roughly $41.8 million, with about 10 percent of that funded by levy dollars that account for 16 firefighter positions; the city services fee preserved several positions during prior budget cuts.
Primary functions include emergency services (suppression and ambulance response across a roughly 202‑square‑mile ambulance service area, including Tangent, Halsey and parts of I‑5), specialized teams for water rescue, technical rescue and hazardous materials, and a life‑safety division that handles inspections and code enforcement in coordination with building staff. The department also houses the city’s emergency manager, who coordinates disaster response and FEMA reimbursement.
Bell described grant‑supported programs: a Department of Human Services pilot to buy lifting devices for care homes (about $80,000), Assistance to Firefighters Grants (AFG) used to purchase apparatus, and a SAFER staffing grant that subsidizes positions for a limited period. She said the department is constructing an on‑site training facility behind Station 12 and expects completion in summer 2025.
Trends the chief raised included increasing call volume (about 11,900 calls in 2024), continued recruitment and retention challenges, procurement delays and rising equipment costs (new fire engines approach $1 million and take multi‑year lead times to build), and the need to sustain community paramedicine and school programs that reduce repeat 911 demand.
Bell said overtime costs have been high because of vacancies and that equipment replacement funding remains a long‑term challenge. She cited partnerships with local colleges for paramedic training and ongoing efforts to reduce offloading delays at hospitals and associated transfer times.
