North Tonawanda, NY (WBEN) - It's the hard numbers - and not a knee-jerk reaction to any one call or incident - that is prompting North Tonawanda Fire Chief Doug Orlowski to proposed a trial run that will adjust manpower.
During the trial, two firefighters would be on a vehicle rather than just one, mirroring what is done in other municipalities. Orlowski is also suggesting only operating out of three of the City's five fire halls, but keeping equipment at all of them.
"Everything we are proposing is rooted in safety," Orlowski said. "Safety for our residents. Safety for our businesses and safety for my men."
The trial run, set to begin on Feb. 2 - and last for no more than 89 days because of union contract mandates - is the byproduct of more than one year of intense studies and another five years of reviewing how to effectively cover North Tonawanda against the backdrop of decreasing firefighting manpower and a growing city.
Orlowski, who took over as fire chief in January 2024, said he wanted to wait at least one year before pushing for the revamped deployment of manpower.
"I wanted people to trust me and understand I was doing this for all the right reasons," Orlowski said.
At one point, North Tonawanda had more than 200 volunteer firefighters spread among six halls and 59 paid firefighters.
The city now has 38 career, or paid, firefighters and just 18 volunteers, with only seven certified to be an interior firefighter.
"The sad reality is we cut too much," said Alderman Joe Lavey Jr., himself a volunteer firefighhter. "You can't look at public safety as just a dollars and cents issue."
North Tonawanda is not alone.
The decrease in firefighters, especially from the volunteer ranks, is a national issue. Florida, for instance, has shifted to only full time firefighters because of the dramatic drop in volunteers.
Orlowski said changing times, including two-income households, has impacted the ability to attract more volunteer firefighters.
"It's not the 1950s and 1960s any more," Orlowski said. "There's more demands on people's time."
Under his plan, Orlowski said North Tonawanda will have three strategically placed fire halls but any call will have a response time of four minutes - or less - and have a two-person per vehicle response.
For a fire call, four vehicles and eight firefighters will respond.
That is par with other surrounding communities like Niagara Falls and Lockport, Orlowski said.
North Tonawanda, last year, had one of its busiest years on record with the fire department responding to 3,975 calls including 3,245 related to EMS issues, 362 to check out fire alarms, 226 for "still" alarms and 146 car accidents.
"My plan should help address those issues," Orlowski said.
At least, initially the North Tonawanda Common Council - who spent part of its Jan. 13 work session reviewing the plan - seems to support Orlowski.
A final review will take place once the trial period ends.
Nothing, for now, is cast in stone and Orlowski said he is open to changes.
"At the end of this, I am only concerned about safety," Orlowski said.