The fire chief and labor union president agree: Lincoln's 249-member firefighter force is stretched thin.
Lincoln Fire and Rescue has added eight full-time firefighters since 1990. In the same period, the city's population has swelled by nearly 87,000 — equal to two Kearneys and a Papillion.
Overtime for firefighters has surged, injuries have increased and response times have dragged as demand for their services continues to climb, said Ron Trouba, president of the Lincoln Firefighters Association. And pressure on the city's handful of firefighter-paramedics — who make hundreds of swift medical decisions each day — keeps building.