VIDEO: After a Massachusetts fire department spoke out against short staffing following a deadly nursing home fire, Dubuque firefighters are citing the same issues. According to Dubuqueโs Firefighter Union, Dubuqueโs fire stations donโt have enough people to meet safety standards. And Union President Will Sullivan, whose been a firefighter in Dubuque for eight years, says they feel the effects.
The National Fire Protection Association recommends each ladder and engine truck have a minimum of four people on it when responding to emergencies. But out of Dubuqueโs six fire stations, none of them meet this recommendation. Two of the trucks have three people working on them. The rest have only two. And that shortage leaves firefighters and the public vulnerable.
โIf weโre fighting a big structure fire right away, weโre removing over half the personnel we have to fight that one structure fire.โ Sullivan said. โIt would be a be a long day for all of us if we had two fires at once.โ But as for why staffing has been such an issue, Fire Chief Amy Scheller says it comes down to two things: money and resources.
And despite the city helping to bring on 10 new personnel over the last three years, itโs not enough to solve the problem. โIn the last three years, the three civil service lists that we use to pull firefighters from to hire, weโve exhausted. Weโve completely exhausted.โ Chief Scheller said. But unless more funding or interested applicants become available, Sullivan says thereโs only one thing to do: โAdapt and overcome. Do the best with what you got.โ Sullivan said.
