BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Any given shift, Bethlehem Fire Department operates with 18 firefighters across its four stations.
But a proper complement of 31 personnel each shift and at least one new fire station are needed, given current on-the-job conditions and an increase in service demand.
That's according to new staffing-study data from International Association of Fire Fighters Local 735, the city department’s collective bargaining unit.
“We need to invest in our stations and our staffing — it’s essential."Bethlehem Fire Department Lieutenant and Local 735 President Lou Jimenez
“We operate way below national standards, despite the jobs that our guys do each and every day, the sacrifices they make, the times they work overtime when they don’t want to but have to because we do not have enough people to staff for firetrucks,” Local 735 President Lt. Lou Jimenez said.
“We need to invest in our stations and our staffing — it’s essential,” Jimenez told council's Public Safety Committee Wednesday.
'Way below national standards'
Considered fully staffed with more than 100 members, the department currently is short eight positions with some retirements on the horizon, Jimenez said.
The fire force keeping up as it has doesn’t come without “excessive overtime,” he said.
But he said major staffing additions would result in faster fire attack and improved performance from crews, along with a reduction in injuries and property loss as the department progresses closer to National Fire Protection Association’s 1710 compliance.
Here are highlights from the union-paid staffing and response study, which was completed in coordination with the IAFF Local 735 Geographic Information Systems Department and using data provided by the city and fire administration:
- More than 4,700 calls for service in 2024 — an increase of almost 29% in a three-year span from 2021 to 2024. “EMS calls and overlapping incidents drive our workload and a sustained upward trend widens the demand-capacity gap — which basically means, we need more people,” Jimenez said.
- Minimum crew size is four for engine and ladder companies, according to NFPA 1017 standards. BFD typically runs two firefighters and one officer on each fire engine, but two of the fleet’s engines operate with only two firefighters. The union proposes staffing all apparatuses with four personnel, including three firefighters and an officer.
- After a 911 call is made, NFPA standards call for the first arriving unit to be on scene in four minutes or less, 90% of the time. Around 80% of city incidents meet the four-minute travel time.
- An interior fire attack requires four or more personnel on scene before entering a burning structure. Current safe-entry coverage is 26% of the city in four minutes or less, but with NFPA minimum staffing, that goes up to 54%; it goes up to 63% with a new fire station.
- There are four stations across the city, though there used to be five — even as residential, commercial and industrial areas continue to expand.
- Facing overlap in some districts during peak demand. “The engine company in their particular district is responding to a call, they’ll get another call in the district that will bring another engine from across the city into that district, leaving the other five districts uncovered,” Jimenez said.
- High-rise apartment buildings, industrial corridors and warehouses, as seen on Hellertown Road, elevate hazards. “Yet we do not have an engine that can get there in four minutes,” Jimenez said. “We’re not in our respective districts most of the time — we need to improve this.”
- Trailing behind in all NFPA response benchmarks for low-hazard (houses), mid-hazard (garden apartments and strip malls) and high-hazard (high-rise apartments) situations.
- Regarding the massive apartment fire at Five10 Flats in May, Jimenez said, “Had that been 2 in the morning, it would have been a whole different outcome.”
- GIS proposes a new fire station near Linden and East Goepp streets to improve the four-minute coverage. Jimenez said it was “still essential” to have a station in South Bethlehem in the Lynn Avenue area.
'We need to make that better'
In response to the presentation, Councilwoman Grace Crampsie Smith said, “I’m concerned about the risk of getting injured, being tired and burnt out — it’s a real concern.”
"I think with time and concerted investment within our city we can get to a place where we have very robust city services and a fire department and a police department that feel genuinely appreciated.”Bethlehem City Councilwoman Rachel Leon
Speaking on the challenge of balancing density, taxes and high-quality city services, Councilwoman Rachel Leon said, “I think with time and concerted investment within our city we can get to a place where we have very robust city services and a fire department and a police department that feel genuinely appreciated.”
Jimenez said that while the topic at hand wouldn’t have even made it to a city committee meeting five years ago, there’s still plenty of work to be done.
“I am grateful for the collaboration we have had with the mayor's office and with fire administration, but we need to make that better,” he said.
Budget with F.D. investments to come
The city administration was busy Wednesday planning for Mayor J. William Reynolds’ 2026 budget address scheduled for Thursday, according to a prepared statement read into the record at the committee meeting.
The fire administration also was tied up interviewing applicants for the next class of cadets to head to Allentown Fire Academy in January.
Officials said an additional 15 cadets will head to the academy in 2026, while 12 were sent in 2025 and 15 in 2024.
The fire department’s $15 million budget proposed for 2026 includes 3% salary increases, not including overtime, and calls to buy two new fire apparatuses at $3.8 million.
With the two new vehicles, the city will have replaced seven of its eight since 2020, totaling $8.6 million in investment.
Other proposed department purchases for 2026 include four ambulances, a fire command vehicle, fire inspector vehicle and new self-contained breathing apparatus filling station.
“We can have all the equipment we want, but without the right amount of firefighters, it does us no good."Bethlehem Fire Department Lieutenant and Local 735 President Lou Jimenez
The city also is conducting a comprehensive Fire and EMS apparatus protection and efficiency study, with plans to review submissions and bring further plans to council in December.
Officials said they hope to begin the study in early 2026 — reportedly the first on the topic in 30 years.
At City Council’s Oct. 21 meeting, Fire Chief Matthew Griffin confirmed the department has 104 personnel, including himself and his deputy chief, when fully staffed.
The department currently is down eight positions, he said.
However, four recruits are scheduled to graduate soon from the fire academy and could join the department later in November, Griffin said.
Officials planned to send six, but two didn’t show up for required appointments and the department wasn’t able to fill those spots in time.
And with the newest graduating class, Griffin said BFD will have 33 firefighters among the ranks with less than three years of service each.
'Passionate about our mission'
“We’re here because we want to do the right thing; we’re passionate about our mission,” Bethlehem firefighter and IAFF Treasurer Kyle Dolton said.
“And hopefully moving forward we can use this as a guide to build this fire department over the next few decades.”
David Ruhf, a former two-term Local 735 president, fire deputy commissioner and assistant chief, said the city department was working with 26 people per shift when he was hired in the mid-1970s — or 116 total among the ranks.
"You have less than what you had 50 years ago, and the city has grown by leaps and bounds. I do not understand it."David Ruhf, former Bethlehem firefighter
“I’ve been on this podium at least four times in my career asking for manpower,” Ruhf said. “You have less than what you had 50 years ago, and the city has grown by leaps and bounds.
“I do not understand it.”
Back in April 2023, results from a fire union survey indicated members were struggling with a decline in mental health and an overwhelming atmosphere in the workplace.
Members also alleged retaliation from the city administration and the fire chief of the time, along with a lack of adequate resources and equipment for safe operations, the survey found.
The city police department is down a number of positions among the ranks, too.
