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Boise fire chief urges gradual move to four-person staffing, cites Station 6 as next priority
Summary
Fire Chief Mark Niemeyer told the Boise City Council that moving engines to a four-person staffing model improves response and resilience but carries substantial upfront and ongoing costs; Station 6 on Franklin Road was identified as the next priority and would boost on-scene performance roughly 32 percent, he said.
Boise Fire Chief Mark Niemeyer told the Boise City Council during the first budget workshop that moving additional fire stations to a four-person-engine staffing model would improve emergency response times and operational resiliency but would require ongoing personnel and one-time capital funding.
Niemeyer said the city currently hits the target of having four firefighters on scene within eight minutes only “about 51% of the time on all our calls,” and that adding a fourth firefighter to Station 6 "would improve performance about 32%.” He presented a cost estimate showing roughly $73,000 in one-time capital costs per station (turnouts, radios and gear) and about $517,000 in annual ongoing personnel and M&O costs for adding three firefighter positions to staff a station at the four-person level.
Why it matters: The council is setting priorities as it drafts the fiscal-year budget. Council members said they want to balance public-safety improvements with long-term budget constraints and upcoming collective bargaining outcomes that could affect payroll assumptions.
Niemeyer summarized the operational case: four-person staffing speeds key tasks on the fireground, reduces reliance on overtime and float coverage, and improves capacity for large incidents such as structural collapses or wildland events. He described a recurring need under the current collective labor agreement (CLA): for every third station added to four-person staffing the CLA’s vacation formula “triggers” and the department must add three “float” firefighters to cover scheduled leaves without using overtime.
Council members pressed on timing and cost. Council President Nash asked when float personnel would be required; Niemeyer said the department has one city-staffed four-person station now (Station 15) and Station 13 will be the second, with Station 6 identified next. "For every third station we bring on, we need to add a set of float personnel," Niemeyer said. He added that retirements and academy timing make exact forecasts fluctuate: an ongoing recruit academy could fill vacancies and delay the trigger for float hires.
Council members expressed differing preferences on pace. One councilor said they prefer a “slow and steady approach” rather than large jumps; others favored trying to secure one additional station to four-person staffing in the next budget cycle if revenue and CLA outcomes allow. Council members and Niemeyer noted recruiting and training timelines: recruit academies typically begin in the fall, take about 12 weeks, and then new hires move onto the ongoing payroll in the next fiscal year.
Context and constraints: Niemeyer said the department uses an objective, repeatable methodology that weights risk factors, call volume and geography to prioritize stations. Station 6’s ranking reflected nearby high-risk assets (hospital, mall, freeway access) and call volumes. He warned that delaying staffing increases can raise long-term costs and hurt firefighter morale when mandatory overtime becomes frequent.
Next steps: Council requested annual updates to the station-priority analysis and asked staff to explore funding trade-offs and timing in the city’s long-range financial plan. Niemeyer said that operationally the department is ready if budget resources are allocated, but the council must reconcile staffing plans with projected revenue and CLA negotiations.
