Clarification: Bethlehem City Council Vice President Laird said exchanges between Councilwoman Jo C. Daniels and Business Administrator Eric Evans on Sept. 1 and Sept. 15 are included in the meeting minutes and recordings. Laird also said the minutes were approved at subsequent council meetings without questions or comments.

BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Firefighters and residents urged city officials Tuesday to act on recommendations in a new fire and emergency medical services study, warning that staffing shortages could leave crews stretched during major emergencies.

During a three-hour Public Safety Committee meeting, firefighters pressed the city to address staffing and operational concerns identified in a report by the Center for Public Safety Management. Councilwoman Jo C. Daniels also questioned whether council received a complete and accurate presentation of the findings.

Lou Jimenez, president of International Association of Fire Fighters Local 735, said the administration’s presentation covered only six of the study’s 48 recommendations.

“This was to be a fair presentation of a study by fire service experts,” Jimenez said. “At the end of the day, it is about lives.”

The report describes Bethlehem’s emergency services system as strong and professionally managed but identifies staffing limitations that could affect major fire responses, rising EMS demand, false alarms, training and aging fire stations.

It recommends increasing minimum staffing to at least three firefighters per engine in the short to medium term, assigning an officer to each engine and ladder company, and eventually moving to four-person staffing on engines and on both ladder companies.

Firefighters said the recommendations validate concerns they have raised for years.

“We’ve got to stop doing more with less,” Jimenez said.

The union says the department has lost at least nine budgeted positions, one engine company and one firehouse since 2009. It also wants the city to restore firefighter responses to certain high-priority medical calls and provide officer coverage at North West Fire Station.

“We understand that this process can take years, but we don’t want to wait years for it to start,” Jimenez said.

Staffing and sick leave

Business Administrator Eric Evans said the city budgets for 24 personnel in each of its four platoons, but vacancies, sick leave and other absences have reduced recent shift staffing to about 18 to 20 firefighters.

Evans said firefighters averaged 11.6 sick days in 2025, compared with 8.3 days for city employees overall. Bringing firefighter sick leave in line with that average could recover an estimated 317 shifts annually, he said.

The comparison drew questions about the physical demands of firefighting. Jimenez argued that firefighters’ absences cannot be directly compared with those of other city employees because injuries that prevent firefighters from performing essential duties may not prevent office workers from working.

Officials said the city tracks on-the-job injuries separately from sick leave.

The administration also said it is working to fill vacancies, accelerate hiring and evaluate additional positions during the 2027 budget process.

Firefighters questioned whether those measures would meet the study’s recommendations.

During public comment, firefighter Darryl Higgins described crews being dispatched to multiple emergencies within minutes, including a house fire and a vehicle crash with entrapment. He also recalled arriving at a house fire with only one other firefighter while an Allentown engine was heading to the scene.

“That happens, and if it happens one time, it’s too many,” Higgins said.

A Local 735 member with 16 years of experience said the department’s workload has grown significantly since an earlier study in 1995, when it handled about 2,000 calls annually. The department has handled close to 5,000 fire calls in more recent years, the firefighter said.

Rising EMS calls and false alarms

Bethlehem handled 12,897 EMS calls in 2025, up from 9,160 in 2019, according to the study.

The report recommends making an existing ambulance available 24 hours a day and expanding another unit’s schedule from three days a week to seven. Both changes would require additional paramedic staffing. It also suggests considering an integrated public health position to work with frequent EMS users.

False alarms accounted for 1,334 of the city’s 4,603 fire calls in 2025, or about 29%. The study found false alarms increased 54% during the period examined.

Evans suggested reviewing the city’s alarm ordinance, including fees, fines and enforcement – something council would have to address.

The report also recommends strengthening automatic-aid agreements with neighboring departments and considering another fire station in southeastern Bethlehem as commercial and industrial development grows. The city’s four existing stations are between about 42 and 72 years old.

Residents cited the consequences of major fires, including the four-alarm fire at Five10 Flats in May 2025 that displaced or evacuated 135 residents and brought in seven outside fire services.

Former Councilwoman Grace Crampsie Smith said the city rejected budget amendments she proposed last year to add four firefighters.

“This is a public safety crisis,” she said. “I implore you to not delay action another year, another month, nor another day.”

Bethlehem Fire Chief Matthew Griffin reads a statement to the Public Safety Committee during a meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2026. (Stephanie Sigafoos / Lehigh Valley Public Media) Daniels questions study presentation

Daniels said she found discrepancies between the administration’s presentation and the written report and wants council members to compare the two.

She questioned why the city did not invite CPSM consultants to present their findings and said she had contacted the firm over concerns about the study’s timeline and completion, which stretched more than nine months.

Daniels also raised concerns about the record of a Sept. 1 council meeting, saying part of a discussion with Evans, including a heated exchange, was missing from the meeting’s video, audio and minutes.

“It’s missing from the YouTube video. It’s missing from the audio. It’s missing from the text,” Daniels said, noting she would address the issue with the city clerk’s office.

She requested the administration’s presentation slides and a more thorough review of the report.

“I can’t perform my duties as a council member with legislative oversight responsibilities, with checks and balance responsibilities, when information is disseminated to us in this fashion,” Daniels said.

Evans said the administration followed the process used to present other studies and had no objection to council arranging a Zoom meeting with the CPSM consultant.

No implementation timeline announced

Fire Chief Matthew Griffin said the city would review the recommendations deliberately because some could require labor negotiations, legislative action or phased planning.

The administration said the study would inform the 2027 budget and longer-term planning. Officials also pointed to investments in training and equipment. Since 2020, the city has appropriated nearly $8.6 million to replace fire apparatus and another $2.5 million for capital improvements, efforts the study praised.

But the city announced no specific implementation timeline or funding commitment for the study’s staffing recommendations Tuesday.

For firefighters and residents, the question remains whether the report will lead to concrete changes in how Bethlehem staffs and deploys its emergency services, or whether it will simply become another report on a shelf. 

The mayor’s 2027 budget address is scheduled for Nov. 6.

“We understand that this process can take years, but we don’t want to wait years for it to start,” Jimenez said.