The Public Safety Committee, chaired by Councilwoman Rachel Leon and including members Brian Callahan and Grace Crampsy Smith, held an informational meeting on October 29, 2025, at 2:00 p.m. to discuss a staffing and response study of the Bethlehem Fire Department presented by IAFF Local 735. The meeting focused on current staffing shortfalls, increasing call volumes, and the need to meet National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 1710 standards. No votes were taken; the session was solely for information ahead of the 2026 budget season.
I will call to order the public safety committee meeting. I'm Rachel Leon, chairwoman of the public safety committee. The committee members are Brian Callahan and Grace Crampsy Smith. The clerk will call the roll. Ms. Leon present. Mr. Callahan and Ms. Brampsy Smith. Present. We have no other council members present tonight this afternoon. YouTube stream reminder if you start the stream after 2 p.m., please make sure to scroll ahead. All the way ahead. So the YouTube stream is current rather than a recording of an earlier portion of the meeting. There is one agenda item tonight involving the fire department. Fire department staffing study. David. That's you, sir. Yep, you're first. Hello, my name's Dave Roof, uh, 1625 Maple Street. I'm a retired firefighter. Uh I retired in 2011. Yeah. I was hired in 1976. So I'm I would like to give you a historical overlay of the Bethle Fire Department within the city of Bethlehem, if that's all right. Uh when I got on the job, we had 116 firefighters, 26 per shift. I believe the police department was at 127, and there was no paramedic service. Uh Bob Tinsman and uh was very instrumental on getting an EMS service, uh, put in the city of Bethlehem, and uh later was supported by uh then councilman Paul Caleb, Otto Ursham, and I believe uh Donald Chase. As now you know, you probably wouldn't even consider not having a paramedic service in the city of Bethlehem. When I got on, there was none. Uh so shortly thereafter, I would say not quite eight years after police department went up to I think it was 132 patrolmen, and then down the road they went up to 154. Uh again, the EMS service went from what we used to call snatch and grab to EMT service to paramedic service, all within I would say 15 years. Uh that's 1976. 50 years. 50 years down the road, you know. Uh EMS service and police department have gained personnel. The fire department is still actually they're below what they were in 1976. The city of Bethlehem has grown in leaps and bounds. Uh we didn't have to respond less than extreme emergency to what was then the Bethlehem Steel Complex, which was I don't know how many acres that is, but it's a bunch. Uh now it's you have all kinds of entities operating out of what was the Bethlehem Steel property. You have hotels, you have businesses. Uh we never had any of that back in 1976. Um, expanded, the hospitals have expanded. We've had uh countless number of uh apartment complexes, all adding to uh the population of the city of Bethlehem. I believe when I got win in 1976, I think there was 72,000. They counted in in the city. Uh that did not count all the Lehigh or Moravian students or occupants that were in the hospitals at that time. So to give you just a little perspective on it. Uh uh 1977, we had the West Cape Mall fire. Uh, I could still remember the headlines in one of the uh major fire journals.