Firefighter Staffing: Why Minimum Crew Matters

By Mike Krill
Former Chief, Easton Fire Department

Editor’s note: The following is a guest opinion piece. Mike Krill, who served as Chief of the Easton Fire Department from 2019 to 2020, writes in response to the recent NIOSH report on the February fire at the Hotel Hampton, which destroyed the building and seriously injured a Wilson firefighter. Op-eds reflect the views of the author, not Easton Post.

Some history

When I was promoted to Chief of the Easton Fire Department in 2019, one of my first priorities was to begin an incremental increase in Department staffing. It was a tough sell to the City Administration. After considerable cost benefit negotiation, we secured three additional firefighters—one per shift. It was the first time in more than 40 years the Department had reached that level. I was proud of it, though it was only half a victory.

Total staffing numbers don’t tell the real story. The number that matters is minimum shift staffing—how many firefighters actually go out the door to your emergency. That number stayed at 10. After I retired, Chief Hennings continued pushing for increases and brought the shift count to 16, but minimum shift staffing was reduced to 9. So on any given day, response could be as high as 16 firefighters and as low as 9.

My goal had been to keep fighting for both numbers—total staff and the minimum shift staffing. Then COVID affected city revenue, and I made the decision to retire. Before I did, I was working toward staffing the outstations with crews of three, which would also have allowed the promotion of additional lieutenants to provide supervision and maintain team integrity.

Why does firefighter staffing matter now?

A recent NIOSH report cited several deficiencies in our department’s operations—including insufficient staffing and failure to maintain team integrity. I’d add one more that the report did not flag as a factor in the specific incident it examined: the immediate establishment of command and control. Delays in establishing this practice are cited in firefighter line-of-duty death investigations time and again. The longer command is delayed, the greater the chance that critical steps are missed and chaos follows.

When I was a young lieutenant, I would serve as officer in charge when the shift captain was out. I dreaded shifts when manning dropped to 9, because that meant I had no driver. That may seem like a minor inconvenience to civilians, but driving an emergency vehicle under lights and sirens requires the full concentration of two people. Statistics show that roughly 13% of firefighter fatalities involve motor vehicle incidents. The officer must monitor radio traffic, gather information from dispatch, and begin developing an action plan before the apparatus ever arrives on scene. I can recall times when I had to ask my driver whether he caught a transmission—because I was already building the plan in my head. When you’re alone in the cab, that information can slip through.

In Easton specifically, the current minimum staffing and apparatus configuration mean that the officer may be riding the ladder truck—delaying his or her arrival at the incident. If that call is in Southside or College Hill, there’s a command gap. That gap creates risk.

Team integrity is simple—an engine needs at minimum three firefighters: a pump operator, a firefighter, and an officer. The outstations are routinely running with two firefighters and no supervision. “Maintaining team integrity” inside a burning building is not possible when you’re the only member of your team.

I’ll be honest about something. When I arrived on an incident and there was a critical life safety task to be done, I didn’t always wait for the next engine. I took the risk and did what needed to get the job done. That is how firefighters get injured or lose their lives. We risk our lives for you even though our public officials are willing to live with these shortcomings. We have to beg to get the resources to save your life, then get chastised when there is a poor outcome.

Why you need to know — and what you can do

It’s important for you to know about this because it affects you, too. Your life and your family’s lives depend on decisions being made about fire department staffing. Make sure your life and your family’s lives are being prioritized properly. How? You can start by showing up to the Easton City Council meeting on Wednesday, May 13th at 6 PM, at College Hill Presbyterian Church, 501 Brodhead St, Easton.