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Flagstaff fire officials warn staffing shortfalls, rising calls and vertical growth strain response capacity
Summary
Fire Department leaders told a Flagstaff City committee the department is spread thin: call volume and visitor populations have grown while FTEs lag national benchmarks, leaving gaps for high‑risk building response, EMS and wildfire incidents. Staff urged more FTEs, regional aid and technology upgrades.
City fire officials told a Flagstaff City committee that rising visitor counts, university enrollment and vertical development have outpaced the department’s staffing and equipment, leaving response capacity stretched for both medical and high‑risk fire incidents.
"Most of us make assumptions that if we dial 911, we're going to get help quickly," Fire Chief Mark Gaylord said, emphasizing the department’s reliance on the "5 E's" of community risk reduction — education, enforcement, engineering, economic incentives and emergency response.
The department outlined several measures of strain: six staffed stations covering Flagstaff and the surrounding regional footprint; roughly 18,000 calls and about 19,730 'runs' in recent reporting; and an operational mix that sends multiple units to single incidents. "By national standards... we should have 33 more full‑time employees," Mark Wilson…
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