Staffing, funding and increased demands for service are three common and resounding challenges facing fire departments across the United States, according to an e-mail survey conducted by the International Association of Fire Chiefs. More than 1,000 IAFC members responded to the November 2005 survey.

“The survey reinforces what the IAFC has been hearing anecdotally — that budget cuts, staffing concerns and increased demands for services continue to plague fire departments of all types and sizes,” said IAFC President Chief Bill Killen. “Fire chiefs are constantly challenged to find ways to do more with less.”

Respondents listed staffing (61%), funding (55%), and increased demands for service (23%) as their top three challenges. Volunteer departments listed staffing as their most common challenge, while career departments listed financial problems as their top issue. Other commonly cited challenges were training firefighters and fire officers (21.9%); issues with personnel and labor groups (16.2%); and the need for new equipment to replace an aging fleet or to comply with new standards (11.9%).

“The IAFC takes these challenges very seriously, and we are working with Congress and the federal government to address them,” said IAFC Executive Director Garry Briese.

Other points of interest in the survey include:

• The most common challenge facing fire departments is recruiting and maintaining qualified staff. Fire departments are being forced to reduce staff while facing increased call volume and new responsibilities.
• Nearly every issue had a link to fire department budgets; many respondents indicated that tax revenues are insufficient and that there is a significant need for additional funds to maintain status quo and to meet elevated demands for service.
• Fire chiefs noted a need to secure and maintain grant money to help offset some of the costs of running their departments.
• Increased demands for services were commonly cited as a major challenge; respondents are facing rapid community growth and additional expectations for their departments, such as preparing for potential terrorist attacks or a possible outbreak of pandemic flu.
• Departments also indicated that training to meet federally required standards would be a challenge, particularly finding the time and money to conduct the training.

The complete “2005 Challenges Survey Results” is available for download here