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Riverside fire chief warns city is understaffed as calls rise; master plan proposes 84 immediate hires
Summary
A 550‑page master plan presented to council shows rising call volumes and concurrency, a current firefighter ratio below regional peers, and recommends a phased plan starting with 84 additional firefighters, six station projects and $26.1 million for Phase 1.
Riverside’s fire chief delivered a stark assessment on Jan. 13: the department’s capacity has not kept pace with growth and risk, and without immediate investment response reliability will deteriorate.
Chief Steve McInister and AP Triton consultant Rich Buchanan summarized the master plan’s key findings. The department responded to roughly 44,670 calls in 2024 and exceeded 47,000 calls in 2025; average response time…
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