Medford Fire Response Change Draws Union Criticism

The change reduces the amount of firefighters sent to a high-alarm fire.

By Benjamin Pierce, Patch Staff

Nov 12, 2026 4:51 PM EST

MEDFORD, MA — The city's firefighters union is questioning a change to emergency response procedures that it said could affect public safety.

The department previously sent three fire engines, one ladder truck and a deputy chief to those alarms. The new policy removes one engine from the response, reducing the number of firefighters initially dispatched to a high-rise alarm from 14 to 11.

Medford Firefighters Local 1032 said Fire Chief Todd Evans implemented the policy on Aug. 24, reducing the initial response to fire alarm activations at commercial buildings, apartment complexes, high-rise buildings, schools, hospitals, nursing homes and similar properties.

"Removing an engine company from the initial response means fewer firefighters are immediately dispatched to investigate potential emergencies and begin critical operations," union President Jeremiah P. O'Brien said in a statement. "We recognize that not every fire alarm activation results in an actual emergency, however, the purpose of an effective emergency response system is to be prepared for the incidents that do."

The union said the affected properties include buildings occupied by children, college students, older adults and people with physical limitations. It argued that coordinating firefighting operations, evacuations and accountability for occupants requires more personnel than the initial response provides.

The statement also questioned why the department reduced its response without providing a clear operational justification.

"The time to assemble the resources for a large operation is before those resources are desperately needed," O'Brien said.

Staffing concerns were previously discussed during the City Council Committee of the Whole's preliminary budget hearing in May. Evans said the department had approximately 112 personnel, compared with 132 in 2002, and described a contractual minimum of 23 personnel working across six stations each shift.

Evans said injuries, vacations, and sick leave contributed to overtime expenses. Approximately eight employees had been out with injuries for much of the year, including some who required surgery. He said 10 people had completed the department's hiring process throughout the preceding year, while potential retirements remained a concern.

Those discussions preceded the August response change and addressed the department's broader staffing needs.

The union also cited National Fire Protection Association standards, saying the reduction moves the department further from national staffing benchmarks.

An NFPA fact sheet explaining the 2020 edition of NFPA 1710 identifies a minimum of 42 personnel for an initial full alarm assignment to a fire in a high-rise building, or 43 when the building has a fire pump. That benchmark addresses a response to a high-rise fire rather than the initial investigation of an alarm activation described in the union's statement.

Patch has reached out to Evans for comment.