AUSTIN (KXAN) — Austin firefighters on Monday morning filled a movie theater at The Domain to watch a short film documenting the Austin Firefighters Association’s campaign to keep four firefighters on every truck.
In July, the union raised concerns after city finance staff recommended repealing a 2018 ordinance requiring a minimum staff of four people due to budget constraints. After Proposition Q was introduced, the city included enough funding in the budget to keep the employment ordinance on the books.
“The council really stood with us when the fire chief and director tried to repeal the four-person staffing ordinance,” said Assembly President Bob Nix. “but [city] The manager has again put it in the budget now that Proposal Q has failed.
Austin Fire Chief Joel Baker told the City Council over the summer that he believed the move was necessary to avoid a brownout or blackout — temporarily not operating a station or shutting it down completely.
“The staffing model is the best solution we have on the table right now to ensure that every fire station and every unit is still staffed with trained firefighters and staffed to respond to these emergencies and medical calls,” Baker said at the July budget meeting.
Nix said having four fighters on a truck during emergencies is essential to maintaining public safety.
He continued, “We certainly want to fill these seats every day because without filling these seats, we cannot provide the service that we swore to provide.”
The Austin Firefighters Association is filing a petition To write down the staffing rule of four per truck. Nix said they need 20,000 signatures to qualify for the May 2026 ballot.
Austin Fire is not the only department seeing major changes under the revised budget recommendation. Austin Emergency Medical Services faces a cut of about $6.3 million, the Parks and Recreation Department about $5.2 million, and Austin Public Health will lose $1 million in funding.
“[The cuts] Brutal, frankly. “It negatively impacts a lot of essential programs and services, including very important budget adjustments that I advocated for during the budget process, including improvements to our EMS emergency response program,” said District 7 Councilman Mike Siegel.
Under the previous budget, council members authorized funding for new EMS positions, new ambulances and a new program aimed at improving EMS response times, Siegel explained.
“We need more coverage. That’s what’s really hampered by these proposed cuts by the city manager,” Siegel explained.
“I feel like the budget approved by the city council [in August] It was a public safety budget. “We protected police spending, fire spending, we restored overtime, we strengthened EMS. This was already on the ballot in November. I’m not sure voters appreciate that,” Siegel continued.
In a statement, Mayor Pro Tem Vanessa Fuentes, who represents District 2, said she will focus on protecting the services that keep Austin residents safe in the upcoming budget adoption process.
“Our first responders are heading toward danger to keep us safe — the least we can do is make sure they are equipped to do their jobs as safely and effectively as possible,” she said.
Austin EMS Association Response
“It’s a serious morale blow,” said James Monks, president of the Austin EMS Association. “He supported us [the proposition] Because it involved multiple resources and funding for our department.
Monks said the additional funding would have helped Austin-Travis County EMS keep up with the city’s rapid growth by adding dozens of sworn EMS positions.
“This funding has been essential for resources we have needed for a while,” Monks continued. “I think we’ve reached a breaking point at this point. Something has to change.”