According to the results of an electronic survey of members of the International Association of Fire Chiefs, budget and staffing shortfalls are the top problems facing fire chiefs in 2004, with more than 68% of responding fire officials citing budget and 58% citing staffing at the top of their problems this year.

“Fire departments around the nation are in trouble,” said IAFC President Chief Ernest Mitchell.  “The IAFC’s survey reinforces the fact that fire departments don’t have enough money or people to do their jobs.”

The IAFC sent the survey electronically to 7,377 members on Jan. 9. The brief survey asked fire chiefs what kind of fire department they led (career, volunteer, combination, mostly career or mostly volunteer) what problems they expected their department to face in 2004 as well as how the IAFC could help. Members responded on a Web-based questionnaire, providing electronic tabulation of results by a private third-party. Results of the report issued Tuesday were based on 863 responses received as of Jan. 14.

"Budget cuts are a cancer eating us up from within," said a fire official from a primarily volunteer combination department. "We cannot continue on this downslide for many more years...the fire service is dying and despite extensive measures to reduce costs, overtime, etc....we are dying."

Finding enough staff, whether paid or volunteer, and keeping them on board and trained was a problem faced by fire departments across the board, the report said. Many departments are experiencing layoffs due to fiscal cutbacks while they are struggling to respond to increased call volume, community growth and new responsibilities for homeland security.

"Responding to WMD threats, and specifically, actual acts of terrorism, will be a significant challenge in '04 and beyond," said one IAFC member. "While it is unreasonable to expect anyone to have enough staff for such an event, additional staff with a technical level of skill sets to share with other department members would be very valuable."

Increasing demand for fire department services was the third most common problem cited by members (32%), followed by training needs (15%), equipment needs (10%), and personnel/labor relations issues (7%).
 
 
Other highlights of the survey results include:

• Nearly every issue listed linked to budgets: participants cited the need to purchase new equipment, hire new fire fighters, conduct training exercises and expand their departments.

• Many fire departments must find alternative sources of revenue, including federal grants, to make up for tax cuts and shrinking budgets.

• Specific staffing issues cited were: recruiting and retaining personnel; hiring new fire fighters to replace retirees; a lack of funds to hire needed additional personnel; motivating and providing incentives for employees; layoffs at a time when demands for services are increasing; and meeting minimum staffing requirements for every day operations.

• Training needs included officer development, succession planning and specialized training needs (hazardous materials, weapons of mass destruction training, etc.) as well as a lack of time and money for training.

• New demands for service included EMS calls (some respondents indicated that these calls make up the majority of their department’s responsibilities) and new responsibilities regarding homeland security. Many departments noted that they lack the resources—particularly staffing and funding—to cover these new responsibilities.

• Some respondents indicated a need for new equipment, from basic replacement of apparatus and gear to the need for specialized equipment for technical rescue or homeland security response.

• Personnel issues, including labor relations and the need to hire more women and minorities, were listed as a significant concern in many departments.
  

 See the full survey results on the IAFC Web site.


The IAFC said intent of the survey was not to obtain data for statistical or scientific purposes, but to obtain “a snapshot of the issues and challenges that fire service leaders expect to face in the coming year—and to determine how the association may address these issues for its members.”

For more information, visit www.iafc.org.