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Anna fire chief warns staffing shortfall as council considers hiring plan
Summary
Fire Chief Ray Isom told the council the department is running with no operational cushion and faces heavy overtime and injury risk; he urged restoring a staffing ratio above 1.1 and cited a proposed budget amendment that would add three firefighters to improve the situation.
At a Nov. 17 joint meeting, Fire Chief Ray Isom told the Anna City Council the fire department is operating without extra capacity and urged steps to rebuild staffing after years of rapid city growth.
Isom said the department’s operations roster is 39 personnel — 13 per shift — which leaves “no cushion” when people are in training or on injury leave. “We’re 18% under the minimum operations division staffing,” he told the council, summarizing analyses in the department’s standards-of-cover and master-plan documents. He described a regional hiring market that pays significantly more and an environment where neighboring cities are recruiting experienced staff.
Why this matters: fewer on-duty firefighters raises overtime costs, increases fatigue and injury risk for crews and can reduce the city’s surge capacity for overlapping incidents. Isom walked council members through the math that connects roster size, daily minimum staffing and the ratio he wants to restore; he said a ratio in the 1.15–1.3 range would create breathing room and lower overtime.
Isom reviewed options the department has pursued, including applying for the federal SAFER grant (the city applied in 2025 but was not awarded) and moving to an alternate 48/96 schedule to help retention. He framed a near-term budget option: “There’s a budget amendment later in the agenda that would allow us to bring on three more firefighters,” which he said would lift the ratio closer to a safer level once injured personnel and paramedic students return to duty.
Council members pressed on costs and consequences. One asked whether the city could rely on less‑costly EMT hires rather than firefighter‑paramedics; Isom replied that reducing paramedic staffing lowers service level and recommended maintaining paramedic‑level ambulances. Another council member pointed to the relationship between well‑staffed emergency response and insurance ratings for homeowners, arguing for an investment in safety now.
Financial context: Isom said the department’s budget has grown substantially in recent years — the department budget rose from roughly $2.5 million to about $7.2 million as staffing and service levels expanded — but he and staff warned the council that property‑tax revenue and existing budget caps constrain how quickly the city can add personnel without shifting priorities.
What’s next: Council discussion continued through the night; the chief and staff asked the council to consider the near‑term amendment (the item appeared later on the agenda) and to plan for longer‑term salary adjustments and alternate scheduling to remain competitive in the DFW market.
