As Columbus faces mounting concerns about firefighter staffing shortages and aging equipment, the fire division says it has enough equipment and staff to respond to emergencies.
The city’s firefighters union has been sounding the alarm in recent months about what it calls a shortage of fire trucks and staff. It says years of underfunding have driven the issues.
“I think the issues we’re dealing with today are because of things people didn’t do a couple or several years ago,” said Steve Stein, who leads International Association of Firefighters Local 67.
Adding to the concerns, in early May, photos began circulating on social media showing city fire trucks and ambulances in poor repair. Some photos show broken parts held together with duct tape. Video also shows leaky and run-down buildings.
Kayleigh Smith, daughter of a firefighter who retired last January after 39 years, is behind many of the posts on X and a “CFDuct TAPE” Facebook page. Smith said she virtually grew up in firehouses and created the pages because she thought people would be “livid” if they could see the condition of firehouses and equipment.
“I had no idea it was going to blow up like this,” Smith said. “I’ve had so many people, regular public citizens just thanking me so much for getting this information out.”
Smith said concerned firefighters and community members send her the videos. She said that if anyone doubts the images, they should go to any Columbus fire station themselves and check it out.
“You can walk into any fire department, and they’re real nice,” Smith said. “Go bring some cookies and say, ‘Hey, guys, can I have a tour?’ and they’ll let you right in to take a tour.”
Some of Smith’s posts also have alarming commentary about what the alleged equipment and staffing shortages mean for residents.
She says that a shortage of ladder trucks could leave people stranded for crucial minutes as the city searches for an alternative and alleges that units have been “browned out” for lack of staff, meaning the units were temporarily unavailable for emergency responses. This would force the fire division or another nearby agency to send crews that might be farther away, extending response times.
Columbus disputes most claims of staffing, equipment shortages
The Columbus Division of Fire pushed back against most of the claims in a lengthy written response to questions from The Dispatch. It said the division has a working ladder truck at every station that is assigned a ladder and has sufficient redundant equipment to respond to all emergencies.
As a policy, the division does not “brown out” fire companies due to lack of staffing, it said in the statement.
As of May 22, the division operates 17 ladder companies, 35 engines and 44 paramedic transport vehicles.
The city owns 25 ladder trucks in total. The eight ladder trucks that are not actively staffed and operating are reserve ladders for training or replacing out-of-service vehicles, and of those, seven are currently out of service.
Recent social media posts described a staffing shortage at Station 26, 5433 Fisher Road, on the city’s Far West Side, on May 10 that lead to a “brownout,” or the station being temporarily out of service. In a statement, the division said the ladder truck at Fire Station 26 was out of service for about 90 minutes because it was being used for training at the fire academy.
The division said the station’s engine and medic unit remained in service for the entire shift.
“The Columbus Division of Fire intentionally builds-in redundant resources to ensure constant coverage for any emergency that arises,” the division said in the statement. “If a truck is out of service at the shop, tied up on another call or at training, we have other resources available to respond. The public can rest assured that regardless of when they call, Columbus Fire has the resources to respond.”
In social media posts, Smith alleged that Station 15, 1800 E. Livingston Ave., was without a ladder truck. Smith wrote that meant all of Bexley had no ladder truck to respond to emergencies, and a ladder truck from the nearest station would take several more minutes to arrive.
The division confirmed in its statement that the station’s ladder truck was down for maintenance for a few weeks but said a backup ladder truck was at the station. Additionally, several nearby stations had ladder trucks, the division said.
“There was always a ladder truck servicing the area,” the division wrote.
The division acknowledged other equipment and maintenance issues.
In early May, part of the ceiling collapsed at Station 18 in South Linden. The division said it already had a contractor in place to fix the roof before it collapsed, and the facility remains operational as the city works to repair it.
Stein said he believes the ceiling collapse was due to past neglect.
“I think almost 60 work orders put in over the course of a couple years,” Stein said. “And, you know, that issue wasn’t dealt with. And now we have a very serious, a very expensive problem.”
Stein said there was never a safety threat to the firefighters. Days before the ceiling collapse, that section of the building was cordoned off.
The division also confirmed that the crew that responded to a March 22 fire at East Market struggled with a hydraulic issue with its ladder truck that delayed firefighting efforts.
“Mechanical issues can and do happen even with brand-new equipment, which is why our firefighters train continuously on how to adapt and overcome,” the division wrote. “Built-in redundancies and training ensured this fire was quickly contained with no injuries.”
New equipment slow to arrive
The division stated that truck purchases have been delayed for reasons largely out of the city’s control.
Trucks also have become much more expensive in recent years, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic, but the Columbus Division of Fire’s budget for new vehicles has not risen at the same rate, The Dispatch previously reported. Additionally, the vehicles take time to manufacture.
The fire division said that from 2021 to the end of 2026, the city will have invested $38.6 million in repairs and maintenance at fire stations and $54.4 million in fire apparatuses.
One engine went into service May 21 at Station 6, the division said. Another will go into service May 22 at Station 19. The city is working on legislation to purchase four pump engines and a ladder truck.
This summer, the division will get seven engines and three ladder trucks, with another ladder truck to be delivered in 2027, it said in the statement.
The division also said it is maintaining minimum staffing standards and calling firefighters in for overtime as needed.
Fire union demands action plan
Smith said no one from the city has reached out to her about her social media posts. She said the city needs to allocate more money to the fire division and address the concerns about staffing and equipment.
“People have the right to know,” Smith said. “They have right to know how this is affecting their care and their response times. They have a right to know that we don’t have enough firefighters to properly take care of the expanding growth, that they’re tired, they’re burned out, and nobody’s been listening to them.”
At an unrelated May 21 press appearance, Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther said he had not seen Smith’s social media posts. He said the city has “some work to do” to purchase more fire apparatuses and hire staff and “investing in fire is going to remain a top priority.”
Ginther said the city has hired 200 firefighters in the past five years, increasing staffing from 1,500 firefighters to over 1,700, and has made “significant investments” in fire stations and equipment.
“We’re going to continue to stay on top of this, and make this a top priority, but we’re not going to go through social media to do it,” Ginther said. “Some of the things I’ve seen are unacceptable, and we’re going to address it.
Stein said the city needs to come up with a public plan to address the staffing and equipment shortages.
“What we want to do is turn this around and make sure that we’re leaving the division in a better place in 2028, 2030,” Stein said. “This needs to be very top of the priority list, and then we need to follow through on it.”
Stein said the union is not interested in pointing fingers and just wants the city to fix the issues.
“We’re not really interested in litigating who’s to blame or who caused a lot of this stuff,” Stein said. “We’re laser focused on working with our stakeholders at the city and Department of Public Safety and Division of Fire to make sure that we get the tools and resources for our people to go do a dangerous job and get home safely to their families.”
Public safety and breaking news reporter Bailey Gallion can be reached at bagallion@dispatch.com.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus fire division refutes staffing, equipment shortage claims
Reporting by Bailey Gallion, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
