Firefighters press council to set clear response-time standard and staffing; resident urges formal ethics code

Firefighters and residents urged the Town of Normal to set a clear response-time standard for fire and EMS and to address staffing shortages during public comment at the Feb. 16, 2026 council meeting.

Blake Chausse, a member of Normal Firefighters Local 2442, told the council that recent town staff statements citing a six-minute response standard conflict with internal plans that reference the NFPA 1710 four-minute standard. "The town was holding itself to the 4 minutes NFPA 17 10 response standard," Chausse said, and he questioned a recent shift to citing a six-minute figure. He also said the fire department "does not have a fully staffed ladder truck" and that staffing shortfalls leave crews with inadequate personnel to respond safely.

Isaac Garrets, a 10-year resident and nearly 20-year town fire-department employee, cited call-volume growth from 5,730 in 2012 to 8,322 in 2025 — a 43% increase — and urged the council to reconsider whether existing relocation plans and staffing assumptions still fit current conditions. Garrets asked council to clarify which response-time standard matters: the four-minute NFPA 1710 metric cited in older plans, or the six-minute standard mentioned by staff recently.

During council comment, Miss Lawrence said the town lacks "a shared definition of what success looks like for fire and EMS," noting competing measures such as NFPA 1710’s four-minute/90% standard, an "en route" metric that includes gear-up time, and a 4–6 minute goal recommended by the county EMS agency. She urged department and administrative leadership to meet and set a clear, shared target. Miss Smith supported consideration of an ethics code after Barbara Findley Stewart urged adoption of a municipal ethics code, recounting her role drafting McLean County’s ethics code and arguing that publicly posted standards would strengthen trust.

No formal council action or vote on response standards or staffing was recorded during the meeting; councilmembers asked for further discussion and recommended leadership convene stakeholders to define the standard and next steps.