GREENFIELD — The alarm sounds, and he straps on his boots, climbs into his rig and sets off to the address echoing through the station. There’s no way of knowing what he and his fellow firefighters will meet once they reach their destination.
There is always — always — risk, Jason Davis said. Every firefighter knows that; but they raise their right hands and swear to protect their community anyway. Something inside them calls them to serve, he said.
But the risks are becoming greater in Greenfield, Davis said, because the Greenfield Fire Territory is woefully understaffed.
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Hancock County Professional Firefighters, the union organization representing local career firefighters, which Davis leads as president, is asking officials in Center Township and the City of Greenfield — the two municipalities that make up the Greenfield Fire Territory — to hire 16 new firefighters over the next two to three years.
The additions would cost about $2 million annually in salaries and benefits, Davis estimates — but it will go a long way toward keeping firefighters and the community safe.
The additional staff would ensure the department is in step with the industry standards outlined by the National Fire Protection Agency, or NFPA.
A minimum of 14 firefighters are needed to respond to a fire in a single-family home, according to the NFPA. At least 28 are needed to adequately respond to a fire in larger structures, like strip malls and shopping centers.
In Greenfield, it’s common to have just 10 firefighters at a time protecting all of the Greenfield Fire Territory, Davis said. They often ride with two firefighters on a truck, when the NFPA recommends a minimum team of four, he said. Two medics at a time currently man the department’s ambulances, keeping with NFPA standards, he said.
Staffing constraints often force him and his fellow firefighters to pick and choose between the tasks they must complete at the scene of a fire, Davis said — things like hooking up hoses, breaking windows to vent hot and unsafe gases from the structure and searching for people who might be trapped inside. All the while, flames spread quickly through a structure, causing more damage and loss.
Last year, when a fire broke out at Riley Park Plaza — ultimately damaging four Greenfield businesses and leading to the death of a firefighter — a crew of nine arrived on scene within the first few minutes of the fire’s outbreak.
The crew was honored last year for their quick actions and the effort they put in, which laid the groundwork for firefighters from across the county to come in and assist them over the next seven hours until the fire was under control.
The recognition was well-deserved, especially considering the NFPA recommends that a crew of nearly 30 should arrive in the first wave of personnel called to a fire like the one at Riley Park Plaza, Davis said.
The guidelines outlined by the NFPA are “the internationally accepted standard on minimum crew size and operational staffing for career fire departments,” according to the International Firefighters Association. They are based on studies conducted by the NFPA in partnership with the National Institute of Standards and Technology, a branch of the U.S. Department of Commerce.
Still, it’s not a legal requirement for Indiana fire departments to follow the NFPA’s guidelines.
Davis, who gave a presentation earlier this summer to the Greenfield City Council, pleaded with the board to find a way to make the 16 additional hires now, and craft a plan to hire additional firefighters in the future as Greenfield’s population and call load increases.
He told the panel he wasn’t trying to be greedy; but it’s his job as the union president to worry about the welfare of his firefighters and his job as a firefighter to worry about the welfare of his community, he said.
Councilmember Keely Butrum agreed that Greenfield’s growing population, its additional neighborhoods and businesses, likely warrant more personnel for the fire department. And she’s eager, she said, to be part of those conversations, crafting solutions for how to address to concerns Davis raised.
But currently there is no wiggle room within the territory’s budget to add personnel, she said. The board will likely know more in the coming weeks as budget talks for 2019 begin.
Butrum cautioned, also, that the fix likely can’t come with just a vote from the city council. Center Township leaders must be involved, too.
Councilmember Mitch Pendlum said he’d support forming a special committee to study staffing at the fire department. The council has voted to add personnel to other city department to help accommodate growth in the area. It seems its the fire department’s turn, he said.
Greenfield Fire Chief James Roberts sat among a crowd of his firefighters, listening as Davis gave his presentation to the city council. He declined to comment on this story.
Greenfield Mayor Chuck Fewell also declined to comment.
A Daily Reporter review of fire departments in areas similar to Greenfield — places where populations, protection areas and annual calls for service mirror those recorded locally — showed the Greenfield Fire Territory had fewer personnel than some departments of its size.
For example, the Brownsburg Fire Territory, a department in northeast Hendricks County, staffs its fire stations each day with twice the personnel Greenfield does. The Brownsburg department services more people, but in the same square-mile area, and took about 200 fewer calls for service in 2017 than the Greenfield department.
Greenfield’s fire department currently has a staff of 49 to protect its 52-square-mile fire territory and 27,000 residents, said Corey Breese, the department’s public information officer.
The department’s staff includes: 44 fulltime firefighters, who work in the the territory’s two fire stations 24/7, dividing the time among three shifts of 13 to 15 personnel; and five administrators, like the fire chief and fire marshal, who work more traditional eight-hour days at the department’s headquarters, but assist on emergency calls whenever needed.
The department requires at least 10 firefighters to be on duty at any given time, Breese said.
When working at that minimum, six firefighters staff Station No. 21, located on South Street in downtown Greenfield, and four staff fire Station No. 22 on West New Road, he said.
Together, they man seven fire trucks and two ambulances, typically in pairs, he said.
Last year, they answered nearly 3,900 calls for help. They expect to exceed that number in 2018, he said.
By comparison, the Brownsburg Fire Territory which serves a town and two townships, protecting 52 square miles and about 30,000 residents, has a staff of 83, including fulltime firefighters and administrators.
Twenty-six firefighters — not including administrators — are assigned to work during each of the department’s three shifts, said Ryan Miller, a spokesman for the Brownsburg department.
They answered a total of 3,700 emergency calls last year.
Currently, Greenfield relies heavily on other fire departments in the area — through pacts called mutual aid agreements — for assistance when its firefighters are stretched too thin, Davis said. When calls for help pull them in different directions or when the situation they respond to is too large for their staff to handle, it’s often firefighters from Buck Creek and Sugar Creek fire departments who fill in the gaps, he said.
It’s a helpful arrangement; but it takes those firefighters from other areas longer to reach a person in need in Greenfield simply because they have to drive farther, Davis said. And seconds count when it comes to helping in an emergency.
Adding 16 firefighters to Greenfield’s staff would allow the department to increase its own personnel minimums, ensuring that at least 10 firefighters are on duty at Station No. 21 and at least six are on duty at Station No. 22 at all times, Davis said.
The extra hands will go a long way on emergency calls, and it will lead to better working conditions for the firefighters, he said.
Fighting fires without adequate staff can be physically exhausting, Davis said. He fears a heart attack, and admits he’s sat awake at night after a demanding call, afraid to fall asleep, worried his body might give out.
He’s worried his fellow firefighters will choose to leave the department because they too don’t feel safe, he said.
“I understand that no matter how many firefighters we put on trucks, there is always a risk,” Davis said. “But why are we willing to accept a bigger risk?”
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Greenfield Fire Territory
27,000 residents (in the City of Greenfield and Center Township)
52 square miles
49 firefighters, with at least 10 assigned to each shift
3,900 emergency calls in 2017
Brownsburg Fire Territory
30,000 residents (in the Town of Brownsburg and two neighboring townships)
52 square miles
83 firefighters, with at least 26 assigned to a shift
3,700 emergency calls in 2017
Shelbyville Fire Department
19,000 residents*
12 square miles*
60 firefighters, with at least 20 assigned to each shift
4,900 emergency calls in 2017
Franklin Fire Department
25,000 residents
13 square miles
48 firefighters, with at least 15 assigned to each shift
4,400 emergency calls in 2017
LaPorte Fire Department
22,000 residents
12 square miles
45 firefighters, with at least 10 assigned to each shift
2,700 emergency runs in 2017
*The Shelbyville Fire Department also provides ambulance services to all of Shelby County — an additional 25,000 residents in a total of 413 square miles. EMS runs are included in the department’s total emergency runs.
Source: Statistics provided by the respective fire departments, the U.S. Census
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“… Why are we willing to accept a bigger risk?”
— Jason Davis, president of the Hancock County Professional Firefighters Local 4787 and 10-year career firefighter with the Greenfield Fire Territory
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