Staffing sidelines seven TFD vehicles on Halloween | Local News

TUCSON, Ariz. (KVOA) – The Tucson Fire Department (TFD) operated without seven of its normal vehicles due to staffing shortages as trick-or-treaters took to the streets Friday.

Assistant Chief Paul Moore explained that despite implementing “emergency constant staffing,” which involves calling personnel in, some vehicles, including the department’s hazmat truck and three rescue vehicles, remained unstaffed.

“There’s definitely the potential for impact. No doubt about it, our folks are going to be very busy,” Moore said Friday afternoon. “Those other trucks that are in service are going to have to pick up the load and run those calls. It can lead to increased response times for us.”

Moore attributed the staffing issues to recruitment challenges, retention problems and an increase in service calls. While he didn’t provide exact figures, he noted that vehicle unavailability due to staffing is not common but more frequent than Tucson Fire would prefer.

Moore told News 4 Tucson the department is taking a number of steps to address staffing woes. These include using two-person rescue vehicles more frequently compared to the large fire engine. Additionally, a new class of recruits will begin training next week.