The Round Table
No matter what scientific mumbo-jumbo was used to justify it, the manning level for a fire company has traditionally been arrived at “by guess and by God.” More recently the manning level has been arrived at by the amount of money available to pay the fire fighters. Neither method is, of course, satisfactory.
With this in mind, what in your opinion, and for your department, is the proper manning level for a ladder company and an engine company? And how many men do you run on each piece?
Anthony D. Basile, Chief, Bristol, Conn.: I sincerely believe four men for the first-due engine company is adequate for our particular department and six men for the ladder company. However, many communities like ourselves are responding with three men on the pumper and five with the elevating platform.
Joseph J. Bertalovitz, Chief, Danbury, Conn.: We run with one officer and two men on a truck and engine company, a total of three men on each.
I would like four men and one officer on an engine company and one officer and five men on a truck company. Like everyone else, manpower is what we need.
Charles E. Masten, Chief, El Monte, Calif.: Pros and cons of manning have been discussed and, of course, will be discussed as long as the fire service is in operation. As the costs of salaries and fringe benefits mount, those cities manned and staffed by purely career, fully paid fire departments will find themselves with fewer and fewer men per piece of apparatus. On the other hand, the volunteer departments seem to have no problem at all in establishing manning tables far in excess of what is necessary and required. My opinion is strictly that—an opinion. I have preferences, and I also am realistic enough to recognize that financial limitations will not allow my desires to be enacted with a career-type fire department.
At the present time the El Monte Fire Department mans its engine and truck companies with four men. I am willing to accept four men on an engine, but I would prefer to have five on an aerial company. It is also my opinion that reducing four men on an engine company to three does not just effect the reduction of that company’s ability to perform by 25 percent, but rather by 50 percent because we have cut the fire fighters in half. In California, in particular, we are going to be hard-pressed to maintain four-man companies because of the pressure from Proposition 13. In order to maintain this manning, it may be necessary for us to go into regionalization or even partial consolidation throughout the areas. I would much rather use this technique to maintain the manning at a reasonable level and face the possibility of having fewer, better-manned companies than many companies with few personnel.
W. K. Wallis, Chief, Nampa, Idaho: I would think that five men per engine or truck would be sufficient, but in our case I am lucky if I can man with three. As our department expanded, we have robbed the truck company to man the engines. There are times when we don’t man the truck company at all, when men are on vacation, sick, etc.
I don’t like it, but I think I am going to be faced with more of the same, due to tax limitations in this state.
Julian H. Taliaferro, Chief, Charlottesville, Va.: Within our department we have developed manning levels based upon measurable performance objectives which are related to our annual and capital budget requests. Those objectives relate to acceptable life and property loss, water application time, and response time. Our companies are located and dispatched in order to meet the measurable objectives we have established.
We vary engine and truck company manning in accordance with the data available from past incidents and this manning varies from four to three men per company; however, we have one engine company that normally operates with only one man and another that operates with two. The referenced two-engine companies are housed in multicompany stations and are dispatched with two other three or four-person companies.
William H. Sullivan, Chief, Claremont, N.H.: I believe that the minimum manning of any engine or truck company should be not fewer than three men, but there are as many opinions on the manning of fire apparatus as there are fire chiefs. Public safety budgets have in the past, and will continue to suffer at the hands of Proposition PI type tax reform, reduced work weeks and high salaries for fire fighters.
In this city, our first-alarm assignment consists of two engines and one truck with a total shift strength of five men. I believe that while we are attempting to obtain support for increased manning, our efforts should be aimed at making whatever manpower we have as effective as possible through intensive training programs, the use of large-diameter hose, automatic nozzles and high-volume attack lines. These are concepts critical to successful fireground operations in this day and age, despite the level of manning and with three-man engine and truck companies becoming a reality.
A. F. Barrowclough, Chief, Farmington, N. M.: Our department operates with a driver, a lieutenant and three fire fighters on lead or attack pumpers and a driver and three fire fighters on the back-up pumpers. The ladder-tower apparatus operates with a driver and one fire fighter.
Our engine companies are manned well for our operations, but vacations and sick time find us experiencing some difficulty. We would prefer adding two more men to the ladder-tower and will try to budget for them in 1979-1980 fiscal year.
Fred Rorex, Chief, Jonesboro, Ark.: The maximum number of men we use is four and the minimum is three. On six pumpers, we use two-man companies.
Russell L. Livengood, Chief, Cumberland, Md.: In my opinion, the proper manning level for the Cumberland Fire Department would be four men to each engine and ladder company. However, in practical application, we have not been able to realize this ideal manning situation. We run our ladder company with two men and each engine company with a minimum of three men. When our on duty work schedule permits, we assign any additional personnel available to our engine no. 1 or our emergency van.
These two pieces of equipment respond to all calls (except vehicle fires, brush fires, and public service calls) along with the engine company assigned in each district, ~
Fred Selig, Chief, Appleton, Wis.: In my opinion, the proper manning level for single house engine company or a ladder company should be four men.
We run four men in our single engine company house. When an engine and ladder company respond, there are three men on the engine and two on the ladder truck.
After ten years in the training bureau, I found that four men on an engine company to be adequate in most fire fighting situations, and the officer gets involved on the initial response.
Our ladders are manned by two men because of lack of funds. However, we do dispatch the heavy duty rescue squad which assumes duties of a ladder company and is manned by anywhere from two to five men.
Ralph S. Adams, Chief, Auburn, Maine: We presently operate with two-man companies both ladders and engines. I believe this to be the most frustrating thing a chief officer has to contend with: trying to direct a fire with insufficient manpower.
In those first critical moments after arrival on the fire ground with ventilation being done and supply lines being stretched, about all he can manage to get into operation is one one 1/2 attack line.
In trying to be realistic about what constitutes a proper manning level for this department, I would like to see four-man ladder companies and three-man engines; certainly heavier manning would be better, but with the present economic situation, I do not believe this will happen. Over the last few years, the fire fighters work week has been reduced, which I believe they deserve. However, it has been accomplished in most instances by cutting the on duty force to a dangerous level.
