LAKE COUNTY, Fla. – The Professional Firefighters of Lake County Local 3990 are sounding the alarm.
Ben Britton, secretary for the firefighters union, said they are understaffed across the board — and it’s a cause for concern.
“It’s just something we can’t ignore anymore,” Britton said.
Britton said on Halloween weekend, Fire Engine 59 in Leesburg and Fire Engine 78 in Mount Dora were in danger of closing.
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“Engine 59 and engine 78 cover two pretty large areas that would cause the citizens to have a large gap in protective services,” Britton said.
He said the administration needed to shift some firefighters from engines to ambulances.
According to Britton, each of the two stations only has two engines, so if the personnel is transferred to ambulances, the engines won’t be in service.
A spokesperson for the county said this is misinformation. They issued this statement:
“…Unfortunately, that misinformation has made our community worry that they are unsafe when the opposite is true. Fire stations closures were not part of the contingency plan, and no ambulances were taken out of service on Halloween. In fact, more ambulances were staffed than normal to ensure adequate services for the holiday.”
Lake County
News 6 obtained a document sent to staff last Friday from the division chief. It stated, “Limited paramedic staffing for single cert transport units exist over the weekend. As a result, roster challenges have developed. Currently, there are multiple vacancies on minimum staffed medic units for the weekend. In the (event) that critical Medic Unit stagging continues, Engine 59 is to be placed out of service.”
Administrators allowed staff to work 60 hours last week to prevent that from happening. Staff volunteered to take that overtime.
Britton said there is a bigger issue in day-to-day operations, though.
“We pretty much have two people on every fire truck, and our ambulances are heavily understaffed, causing a strain on the entire system of Lake County,” Britton said.
The National Fire Protection Association recommends there be four personnel on a fire truck.
Britton said two firefighters technically aren’t supposed to go inside a burning building unless another crew shows up on the scene.
He said that’s a decision they shouldn’t have to make.
“I think it’s dangerous for us as employees, and I think it’s dangerous for the citizens, as well,” Britton said.
The county said select fire engines have three crew members, and their goal is to make that happen at all the stations.
Until three staff members are allocated to each engine, a county-wide first-available response model will be used to place crew members on the scene in a minimum amount of time.
The county said that in September, the average response time from dispatch to arrival was 8 minutes and 51 seconds.
Britton and others in the firefighters union still urge the county to hire more personnel and find a way to better retain staff.
“We need to just set a standard of better working conditions, money and just creating an environment that people want to work in,” Britton said.
The county spokesperson said public safety staffing, including firefighters, is currently a nationwide challenge, adding that these jobs are not easy and require selfless individuals willing to risk their safety to help others.
Positions are open, and the county is actively recruiting, but the spokesperson emphasized that services are not in danger of suspension.
Lake County has 427 Lake County Fire Rescue positions budgeted. Of those, there are 19 openings for dual-certified (paramedic and firefighter) and 21 single-certified openings.
The county is in the process of onboarding 16 single-certified individuals and performing interviews for dual-certified positions.
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