A new comprehensive study on the City of Troy’s fire response services finds staffing remains a problem.
Funded by the American Rescue Plan Act, the study highlighted constant understaffing and growing demand for services.
Mayor Carmella Mantello’s administration is looking to implement a 90-day task force to address immediate issues like retaining its fire-based Emergency Medical Service model, maintain staffing for its peak-hour Medic 3 unit, and add a captain dedicated to fire prevention and community risk reduction. The task force will be made up of fire department leadership, union representatives, and stakeholders.
Fire Chief Rich Cellucci says citywide, the department can employ 124 firefighters across six stations. There are currently two vacancies but more expected with planned retirements later this year.
“In the fall, we'll probably be looking for four or five firefighters to run through an academy again, but nowhere near the vacancies that we had. The original group of 17 that we hired in September ‘23 is online with us,” Cellucci said. “They're actively online, counting in the staffing. The second group of nine are currently in paramedic school at Hudson Valley [Community College]. We expect to see them towards mid-summer and they'll be online. So, by the end of the summer, we should only be down like four spots.”
The report by Manitou Inc., a consulting firm specializing in program evaluation and public safety, also suggests revisiting Haz Mat response and dispatch services agreements and consider a full-time uniformed training officer.
Funding for the department makes up roughly a quarter of the city’s budget, according to Mantello. The first-term Republican has made it a priority to beef-up the city’s code enforcement department and improve communication between departments. Jared Barringer is the Deputy Fire Chief.
“That open line of communication to have immediate reception from that side has been great, and we'll continue to do that,” Barringer said. “We are seeing a little bit of change and reduction on a number of fires throughout the city, but our call volume is still rising.”
Cellucii, who has worked at the department for over 30 years, says call volumes have doubled since the 1990’s, but staffing has not changed to reflect that.
“It's important to realize that it took us 30 years to get here, and it's not going to happen overnight,” Celluci said.
Mantello assured residents that their safety is not in jeopardy.
“We've been very, very fortunate, to date, not to have something horrific happen,” Mantello said. “However, it's because we have a second to none Troy Fire Department, and they are making it work, but the changes have to happen, and we can't keep the band aids, and like we've been saying about every infrastructure that also relates to our staffing.”
Negotiations continue between the city and Troy’s Uniformed Firefighters Association Local 86. President Jeff Ward wouldn’t cite specific concerns of union members, but says discussions are positive. He warns cross-staffing between stations is detrimental to residents and first responders’ safety.
“The city obviously looks and sees that the concerns that we've had are serious concerns. They really want to fix the problem,” Ward said. “They really want to help us do that. We're trying to come up with some different ways to make that happen, whether it be, you know, an immediate fix or a long-term fix.”
The city is also working on moving its Lansingburgh station to Second Avenue at the former home of J and J Auto. The current station on 115th Street and 5th Avenue is more than 50 years old and will be replaced by a three-bay firehouse.
