Firefighter shortage in Bethlehem 'a failure of priorities,' department advocates say

BETHLEHEM, Pa. — A fun evening of poker more than 40 years ago almost took a turn for the worse for city resident Mark Will-Weber.

Will-Weber said he didn’t think much of his friend, a volunteer fireman, leaving the table on a call.

That’s until he later arrived to fire crews on scene at his Northside home, Will-Weber said.

“I had some minor damage to my back room and the downstairs had some smoke damage, but 10 minutes late and then it would have been a whole 'nother deal,” Will-Weber told City Council on Tuesday.

His testimony was among many, as about a dozen active and retired firefighters, their family members and other first-responder advocates pressed city officials about staffing shortages and excessive use of overtime in the city fire department.

Bethlehem Firefighters Local 735 President Lou Jimenez said city residents and visitors deserve better.

“We operate with staffing levels that simply do not match the size, the complexity and the growth of modern Bethlehem,” Jimenez said.

“We’re budgeted for 104 firefighters — numbers from the Bethlehem Steel era, not a 2025 city.

"Adequate staffing determines how quickly a fire gets under control, whether a trapped victim gets rescued in time or not. It determines when a firefighter becomes a survivor or a statistic.”

'Weight off the family's shoulders'

Jimenez's wife, Rosemary, described the current state of staffing in the department as “a failure of priorities” by city officials.

Carol Anders, a city resident of 76 years, said her father and ex-husband were police officers, and her son now is a firefighter.

“All the worry that I have had almost my entire life seems it could be so easily rectified if the people I’m looking at right now would please do your job and make sure the department gets what they need,” Anders said.

“So take a little bit of weight off the family’s shoulders. I can’t help them, but you can help me and their families.”

Will Oliver

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LehighValleyNews.com

Proposed amendments due in a week

City Council voted 5-2 for preliminary approval of the proposed 2026 budget, with Councilwoman Grace Crampsie Smith and Councilman Bryan Callahan voting in opposition.

Officials have a week to submit any pitches for amendments to the spending plan.

If amendments are proposed, the final budget meeting will be at 6 p.m. Dec. 4. Otherwise, Tuesday's discussions will continue at 7 p.m. Thursday with more data to come per request of council.

Final adoption of the budget is planned for 7 p.m. Dec. 16.

Any new expenditures would require five votes of approval from City Council; deleting anything from the budget would take four votes.

The 2026 proposed spending plan makes room for new apparatus investments and training for up to 15 new cadets at $20,000 a head.

The department just swore in three of its newest firefighters on Nov. 13; Seven are expected to head for training come January.

A recent union-funded study offers additional data on the department’s current outlook.

Fire Chief Matthew Griffin said his firefighters respond to emergency medical service calls, automatic fire alarms, motor vehicle accidents and fires.

Mandated overtime has happened on “a somewhat routine basis” over the past year, he said, with firefighters sometimes facing 39-hour shifts in the most extreme cases.

'This pressure valve'

Crampsie Smith, a daughter of a firefighter, said she will propose adding four more firefighters to the ranks and promoting four firefighters to lieutenant.

“Many are wanting to retire because they just can’t keep up with the overtime," Crampsie said.

"They’re losing their quality of life and the time that they should be with their families, in addition to the stress and the adverse effects it has on their health.

“I really hope that my colleagues on council will concur and support my amendment, and I hope the administration will work with me to find the funds necessary for these positions.

"But if not, I’ll find the funds within the budget."

Callahan said that if officials couldn’t make room in the general fund for the new hires to "alleviate this stress and this pressure valve that they have, then we all need to seriously think about increasing the millage rate slightly.”

Councilwoman Colleen Laird said her approval was just procedural, and she was “willing to consider amendments and may have some to propose" herself.

'How to do more with less'

The department has endured years of challenges with staffing but no clear direction forward from the administration, union officials have said.

The administration has said the hiring and training process can be lengthy, especially factoring in retirements within the department.

City Business Administrator Eric Evans said there are plans to hire an outside agency to perform a study on the fire department’s equipment, staffing, site preparations and scheduling — using the data gathered to decide next moves.

The five-month $60,000 study is proposed to be completed by summertime, he said.

“There’s your study. The study showed up tonight and told you what the study is going to say,” Callahan said to Evans, acknowledging the audience.

“That’s all we do, is spend money on studies and consultants.”

Jimenez said the city’s study will just determine “how to do more with less, yet again,” and doesn’t appear to account for some of the union’s original suggestions.

Mayor J. William Reynolds was not at Tuesday's meeting. LehighValleyNews.com sent an after-hours request for comment.

Callahan and Crampsie Smith said the mayor should have been present to answer the community's questions.