Chief: Troy could be facing a shortage of 20 firefighters
City hopes to fill the vacancies from group taking exam Saturday
TROY — The city has discovered that buying new fire engines and ambulances and repairing firehouses is far easier than finding the firefighters required to staff the equipment and fire stations.
The city swore in a new firefighter, Thomas Halpin, Friday morning at City Hall but won’t see him on duty for months.
The new firefighter heads off to the Albany Fire Department training academy Tuesday, then will complete his paramedic training at Hudson Valley Community College.
Halpin’s appointment leaves the city down 11 firefighters from its authorized staffing of 120 positions. With retirements, the department could be short 20 firefighters later this year, Chief Eric Mcmahon said.
The situation has become so serious that it led Mayor Patrick Madden in his State of the City address to say, “Departments across the country are having difficulty filling their ranks and the problem is particularly acute for those that offer emergency medical services.”
The city had required all new firefighters to be certified as paramedics before they could be hired. The city dropped that requirement and will send its newest firefighters to school to be trained as paramedics. In July 2022, U.S. Sens. Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand obtained $702,545 to pay for the paramedic training from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program.
Madden said the city fire department hopes to be able to fill its vacancies from the 140 people who have signed up to take the firefighter exam on Saturday.
The city waived the exam fee to encourage participation.
The city had expected to swear in two new firefighters Friday, but one called to say he had decided to join the Saratoga Springs Fire Department instead, Mcmahon said.
Officials said the city fire department’s volume of 13,713 calls in 2022, a jump of 11 percent over 2021, and lower salaries than other departments make it difficult to compete.
When it comes to waiving the paramedic requirement, Firefighter Eric Wisher, president of the Troy Uniform Firefighters Association Local 86, said, “They should have done that five to 10 years ago.” Wisher said the union warned city leaders against establishing the paramedic training requirement.
Wisher also criticized the city for not making increased use of videos and other recruiting tools as the police department has done. The police department is at full strength with all 137 positions filled.
City Council President Carmella Mantello said the city has to complete a study of the municipality’s ambulance and firefighting needs in an effort to avoid facing the staffing shortages.