Livingston fire chief warns rising EMS demand and staffing gaps will require new funding and regional cooperation

Chief Jamalowski told the Livingston City Commission that Livingston Fire Rescue now serves as the sole Advanced Life Support (ALS) provider for Park County and is operating at high volume from a single station. “We are the sole ALS provider for the entire county,” he said, stressing that that responsibility includes complex interfacility transfers and critical-care transports that the local hospital cannot provide. He outlined a mix of emergency response roles the department fills: firefighting, advanced EMS, technical rescue and wildland response.

The chief and Battalion Chief Jonathan Gilbert described rising demand and capacity limits: call volume spikes 30%–40% in summer, the department averages thousands of calls a year, and many days now include simultaneous incidents that strain the city's single-station staffing model. Gilbert said staffing turnover has been high: roughly 70% of full-time positions turned over in the past five years, and the department currently lists 19 full-time firefighters with about 25 reserve personnel available on a limited basis. He warned that frequent simultaneous calls force the department either to staff a second ambulance by pulling resources from the engine (temporarily reducing engine coverage) or to rely on off-duty call-backs.

Officials flagged equipment and facility needs. Jamalowski described frontline apparatus beyond typical replacement age: the ladder truck is 26 years old and engine and medic units are aging. He also said the station footprint is constrained, noting gaps in bunking, gear decontamination and indoor storage that limit readiness. The presentation included training and certification gains '02 the department emphasized it now fields highly certified, cross-trained crews '02 but Jamalowski said those improvements increase the long-term cost of maintaining personnel and also make individual firefighters more marketable to other departments.

To sustain services, the chief urged the commission to plan for three levers: (1) secure near-term funding through a renewal or adjustment of the countywide ambulance levy that partly underwrites operations, (2) explore consolidation or formal asset-sharing with Park County Rural and other partners to co-locate assets and reduce duplication, and (3) invest in capital replacements and personnel (additional battalion-level or administrative staffing, a second set of turnout gear, and replacement ambulances and ladder apparatus).

The chief and battalion chief also raised a practical constraint: if the countywide ambulance levy is not renewed, officials said reductions in service area or scope would be likely, but mutual-aid obligations could still require the city to respond and absorb costs. Jamalowski said ambulance billing and transfers produce revenue but would not replace levy funding at current levels. He asked commissioners to treat the department's near-term budget choices as community-level decisions tied to county funding and mutual-aid compacts.

Commissioners asked for follow-up materials, comparative staffing data and specifics about how a consolidated regional approach would alter coverage and costs. Jamalowski and Gilbert said they support further study and noted the department participated in a recent consolidation study that lays out potential legal, operational and fiscal paths for deeper regional cooperation.

Next steps: city staff and fire leadership will provide requested comparative metrics, slide materials and the consolidation study to the commission and discuss levy timing and options in upcoming budget conversations.