Troy fire crews responded to the third fire in a row without one of their ladder trucks on Wednesday, marking a pattern that some feel firefighters feel frustrated about. Eric Wisher, president of the Troy Uniform Firefighters Association Local 86, expressed deep concerns about the short staff.
TROY, N.Y. (NEWS10) — Troy fire crews responded to the third fire in a row without one of their ladder trucks on Wednesday, marking a pattern that some feel firefighters feel frustrated about. Eric Wisher, president of the Troy Uniform Firefighters Association Local 86, expressed deep concerns about the short staff.
According to Wisher, all it takes is seconds for a fire to double in size.
“Timing is everything in a fire. A fire doubles in size every 15 to 30 seconds. So just imagine a five minute delay in getting more guys there to do the job, the fire can increase in size that much,” said Wisher.
Wisher said Troy fire calls were up 135% in the last 30 years but staffing is up 0%.
“You need all hands in those situations and we don’t get that because the ambulances are out on calls. They’re backed up at the hospitals,” said Wisher.
NEWS10’s Vanessa Blasi was at one of Troy’s fire stations on Wednesday, where she witnessed crews leave to respond to two calls, with one of those being an active fire scene. According to fire officials, they responded around 12:15 p.m. to 104 West Sunnyside apartments for a call of a possible fire. Two people were injured and transported to the hospital.
One of Troy’s ladder trucks was unable to respond to this scene because Wisher said there weren’t enough firefighters to drive the truck. Wisher is looking for the mayor to add more firefighters in her 2025 budget.
“The good news, we’re aware of it, you know, the not great news, we all have to look at funding, we all have to look at budgets, money,” said Troy Mayor Carmella Mantello.
Mayor Mantello said she will not be including more firefighters in the proposed 2025 budget because she believes the issues stem from elsewhere.
“The sole answer is not just adding firefighters, adding OT, we also have to look at the 30-year-run ambulance model and we also have to look at the demographics, we have more apartments now, we have more housing now,” said Mayor Mantello.
Troy Fire Chief Richard Cellucci agreed. He said he is absolutely on board with getting more staff, however he wants to approach it differently.
“A little bit irresponsible of us to try to increase staffing without really knowing how much money we have but we’re fully committed to doing that and coming up with a longer form plan to do so,” said Chief Cellucci.
Chief Cellucci also said that the Troy Fire Department works together with other departments through mutual aid programs.
“If our resources are depleted, they come over here and they help us as we do to them. We’re always going to have somebody available,” said Chief Cellucci.
This conversation will continue Thursday night at the Public Safety Police and Fire Budget meeting. Stick with NEWS10 for updates.
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