The Bethlehem Fire Department needs more staff

Bethlehem is at a crossroads, and the safety of our residents, visitors, and firefighters depends on a simple fact: our fire department is dangerously understaffed. Too often we respond to emergency calls with only 17 or 18 firefighters citywide. That number is well below what a growing city like Bethlehem needs. We must act now to raise staffing to 108 firefighters.

A study conducted by the International Association of Fire Fighters’ GIS department, which used city data from 2021 through 2024, shows we are below the staffing levels recommended by the National Fire Protection Association. The NFPA also recommended Bethlehem have 30 firefighters and at least three firefighters and one officer on each engine per shift.

Fire engines must arrive fast, with enough trained personnel to perform rescue and suppression safely. In firefighting seconds matter, sometimes a single minute can mean the difference between life and death, or between a house lost and a neighborhood preserved. Staffing is not just a number; it is the foundation of every safe and effective emergency response.

Yet today, Bethlehem’s fire department has fewer firefighters than it did 50 years ago, even as our population, density, and emergency call volume have all surged. A recent staffing study by the union confirms it: on-duty staffing rarely meets modern needs. We are doing far more work with far fewer people. That gap erases any margin for error.

Forced overtime has become the norm. To keep fire companies operating, firefighters regularly work grueling back-to-back shifts in an already high-risk profession. Fatigue dulls reflexes, clouds judgment, and compromises split-second decisions. When firefighters are exhausted, the danger does not stay contained to the crew — it spills over onto the people we respond to.

The urgency becomes clearer when you look at Bethlehem today. A few decades ago, the sprawling footprint of Bethlehem Steel covered a quarter of the city and ran its own fire brigade. Today that area is a dense corridor filled with apartments, restaurants, hotels, offices, arts venues and entertainment, with events like Musikfest drawing more than 1.4 million visitors annually. All of this relies on the city fire department for protection, yet we do it with fewer firefighters than when Bethlehem Steel stood watch.

Meanwhile, resources have been cut. The Dewberry Fire Station closed in 2011, and the engine that served that neighborhood remains out of service. Since then we have lost positions, lost firefighters to injury, and responded to scenes with too few people, resulting in close calls and near misses. The pattern is undeniable: as the city expanded and risk increased, staffing shrank.

New apartments, round-the-clock warehouses and growing development continue to raise both the complexity and volume of emergencies, but staffing has stayed frozen in time.

We support the city’s ongoing staffing study, but we cannot afford to wait. Staffing shortfalls in Bethlehem have been documented for decades. What we need is action. The responsible and practical first step is clear: amend the 2026 budget to add four firefighter positions, bringing total staffing to 108. This would allow the Northwest Fire Station to be staffed with a dedicated company officer on every shift, ending the unsafe practice of pulling command from memorial stations to cover two districts. It may not be the full solution, but it is a critical step forward.

Bethlehem deserves a modern and properly staffed fire department. Residents deserve timely and effective emergency response. Firefighters deserve safe working conditions. This is not political — this is about protecting lives, protecting property, and ensuring that when someone calls 911, enough trained firefighters arrive in time to make a difference.

I live here. My family lives here. Many of our firefighters are raising their families here too. We are not asking for luxury, just for what is necessary to protect the city we call home.

Bethlehem, it’s time to step up — boost fire staffing, protect our residents, and give firefighters the backup they need when every second counts.

This is a contributed opinion column. Lou Jimenez is president of IAFF Local 735 and a lieutenant in the Bethlehem Fire Department. The views expressed in this piece are those of its individual author, and should not be interpreted as reflecting the views of this publication. Do you have a perspective to share? Learn more about how we handle guest opinion submissions at themorningcall.com/opinions.