AUSTIN (KXAN) — Austin Fire Chief Joel Baker and the city of Austin’s budget office are now pointing to increasing absenteeism at the fire department as they continue to recommend a change in the fire department’s staffing model in its proposed Fiscal Year 2026 budget.
“It is important to note that the proposal does not recommend rescinding the four-person staffing model. Rather, it is the intent to maintain the four-person staffing model while providing flexibility to maintain continuous operations and avoiding unnecessary service reductions or excessive overtime,” a memo from Baker and Kerri Lang, director of Budget and Organizational Excellence for the city, said.
The memo said under the department’s current staffing model, 25% of firefighters can be absent from their scheduled shift before AFD needs to start backfilling those slots, most often with firefighters working overtime.
“Over the past several years, Austin Fire has begun to experience significant increases in the rate of firefighters absent from their scheduled shifts, with the absentee rate reaching 39% in FY 2023 and remaining above 36% since FY 2022,” the memo said.
The memo said on average, AFD is paying an overtime rate to fill 45 of the 268 required positions per day despite scheduling 87 more firefighters than necessary to fill the day’s needs.
The city further clarified that the new, proposed staffing model does not change how the city will schedule firefighters, but will allow firefighters to call out absent and not require the department to backfill that position with someone working overtime.
“If all the firefighters are in attendance for their scheduled shift, then every firefighting unit would approach a five-person staffing level,” the memo said. “Four-person staffing would be achieved without the use of overtime if 75% or more of firefighters were in attendance for their scheduled shift.”
KXAN has reached out to the Austin Firefighters Association for a response and will update this article when we get it.
What’s the proposed change?
In 2018, Austin City Council approved an ordinance that requires a four-person staffing minimum in all responding fire vehicles. Due to significant constraints in the budget this year, city financial staff are proposing eliminating that standard in some cases, allowing fire engines to run with three firefighters on board instead of four.
“The four-person staffing standard has been critical for Austin’s firefighters before the ordinance was written and must continue to not only be supported by the city but permanently backed into the budget,” Austin Firefighters Association President Chief Bob Nicks said in a news release earlier this month. “Four-person staffing ensures more safety, faster response, and efficiency.”
In a statement, City Manager TC Broadnax made a distinction between different types of firefighting apparatus, saying the new staffing proposal would only impact engines, which carry water tanks and hoses. It would not impact ladder trucks (equipped with an extendable ladder for operating at elevated heights), quints (trucks that can perform the roles of both an engine and ladder truck) and rescues (carries specialized equipment for rescue operations beyond firefighting, such as tools for vehicle extrications, hazardous materials response and water rescues).
“This adjustment will allow the City of Austin to staff appropriately, making the best use of taxpayer dollars, while maintaining the Austin Fire Department’s exceptional level of service and ensuring firefighters can reduce work-week hours to improve their work/life balance and emotional and physical wellbeing,” Broadnax said.