Oak Park trustees weigh hiring 6—9 firefighters after competing staffing studies

Oak Park —At a late session Oct. 14, 2025, the Village Board heard two independent assessments of the fire department that reached different conclusions about how many additional firefighters the village should hire and how quickly.

IAFF Local 95—s presentation, introduced by Local 95 President Robert Toth and delivered by data analyst Adam Smith, concluded that Oak Park—s current deployment (three firefighters on most apparatus; 16-person minimum staffing per 24-hour shift) falls short of nationally accepted benchmarks and creates safety and workload risks. The union study relied on National Fire Protection Association standard 1710 and OSHA 1910 rules and recommended short-term staffing increases to four firefighters per apparatus and hiring nine new firefighter/paramedic positions (three per shift). "Four firefighter companies were able to complete tasks 25% faster than three firefighter companies," Smith said, citing NFPA/NIST findings, and argued that adding staff would reduce overtime-related fatigue and injuries.

Baker Tilly, contracted by the village to provide a holistic organizational assessment and fiscal analysis, offered a different emphasis. Managing director Carol Jacobs and director Steve Tolar told trustees they recommend retaining a 16-person minimum staffing policy while pursuing targeted hires (for example, a training officer and a two-person squad vehicle) and other operational changes before committing to a full NFPA 1710 staffing model. Tolar presented a high-level cost model that estimated the union—s short-term proposal (staffing up to four per apparatus across shifts) would add roughly $2.2—m in ongoing personnel costs and about $100,000 in incremental annual operating costs; a longer-term move to six-per-apparatus minimums plus additional apparatus could require tens of millions in one-time capital expenses and many millions more in recurring costs.

Trustees pressed both teams on recruitment, mutual aid, response-time outcomes and the practical tradeoffs of increasing minimum manning. Chief J.T. Terry and Baker Tilly noted that Oak Park already meets most six-minute response-time benchmarks and that mutual aid and ambulance deployment patterns complicate literal readings of NFPA—1710 company definitions. Local 95 stressed Oak Park—s unusually high population density (about 11,600 people/sq. mile average and pockets of much higher density) and said several recent multi-unit fires showed the current staffing can leave crews short on scene.

Board members expressed a mix of safety and fiscal priorities. Trustee Jenna Levin Jacobson said the staffing study was "very convincing" and urged the village to pursue hiring nine additional firefighters but acknowledged recruitment limits; Trustee Taglia and others urged pairing any hiring proposal with a clear recruitment plan and a phased financial strategy. Several trustees voiced support for hiring six to nine additional firefighters as a pragmatic near-term step while the village refines longer-term plans in the FY26 budget process.

Village Manager Andrew Jackson and staff committed to incorporating the recommendations and cost data into the upcoming budget and long-term financial plan. The board formally "received" the Baker Tilly assessment for the record in a roll-call vote; no binding appropriation or change to minimum manning was made that night. The next steps are additional staffing and recruitment analysis, potential pilot or phased hires, and budget deliberations this fall.