Durham chief: Today's fires require more firefighters

National safety guidelines recommend four-person fire crews, but Durham operates with three-person crews.

"When we roll up with four people on the truck, we’re more effective right away in fire suppression and in rescue efforts," Fire Capt. Jimie Wright said. "People would be definitely safer if we had more firefighters."

Studies show four-person crews are 26 percent more efficient responding to a high-rise fire than a three-person crew, as well as 25 percent more efficient on a single-family dwelling fire, Zoldos said.

"It makes firefighters safer, but it also makes the community safer because we will be much more efficient at our jobs," he said of the larger crews.

Zoldos wants to add 75 firefighters to the 400 who already work for the Durham Fire Department, but he said that could be phased in over several years. Next year, he said, he would like an extra 15 – at a cost of $900,000.

Durham firefighters said they have been operating with three-person crews for as long as they can remember. But fires are different now, so an extra person would help.

"They are a little harder to deal with – buildings are more complex, they’re more sealed," Zoldos said, noting that means things burn faster and require a faster response.

City Councilman Charlie Reece, who went through demonstration training Friday with other city leaders, said he agrees that four firefighters per crew would be better than three.

"I think that’s where fire departments in our area are moving toward, and I think we need to go there, too," Reece said.

Officials with the Raleigh Fire Department said they strive for four-person crews, but often use three-person crews because of limited staffing. The Chapel Hill Fire Department likewise has three or four firefighters on an engine, officials said.