TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — Dustin Tamietti has worked for the Tucson Fire Department for 21 years and is currently an engineer for them.
“I enjoy helping the citizens, helping the people of Tucson,” he said.
Since 2008, TFD said emergency calls have gone up sixty percent and since 2015 have gone up twenty five percent. They said in 2008 they had 673 firefighters but now have 645.
“We’re not going to be able to respond in an adequate time to help affect a positive outcome,” Tamietti said.
For non-EMS calls in 2024, TFD said ninety percent of the time they responded more than three and a half minutes above their standard, which is up 25 seconds from 2015.
For EMS calls in 2024, TFD said 90 percent of the time their response time was about two minutes above the National Fire Protection Association’s standard and more than three minutes from TFD’s standard, which is up 33 seconds from 2015.
“Which makes it even harder to show compassion, to help these people out in their times of need,” Tamietti said.
TFD said their busiest station last year was station 9, which got more than 18,000 calls.
“We would always lose a couple of people a year but we’ve lost more than that the last couple of years,” Clayton Black, the Tucson Fire Fighters Association’s president said.
Black said because of their staffing numbers, some are having to do mandatory overtime.
“We are fully staffed but at a number lower than we should be to support a city of this size,” TFD fire chief Chuck Ryan said.
He said they should have about 100 to 150 more firefighters so they’re over hiring and marketing nationwide.
“If somebody is willing to come from the outside, we’re happy to have them,” Ryan said.
To meet call loads, he said they also rely on the city’s 311 phone number, telehealth program and risk education program.
Both the Tucson Fire Fighters Association and TFD said they need an infill station on the northwest side of town. They said that would help lower the call volume, but said they need more personnel for that.
Firefighters like Tamietti said if they don’t get more firefighters, it could affect Tucsonans.
“That means the public’s going to suffer and it’s stressful as an employee knowing that we’re not going to be able to perform in an adequate time span,” he said.
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Andrew Christiansen is a reporter for KGUN 9. Before joining the team, Andrew reported in Corpus Christi, Texas for KRIS6 News, Action 10 News and guest reported in Spanish for Telemundo Corpus Christi. Share your story ideas with Andrew by emailing andrew.christiansen@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook, or Twitter.
