Fitchburg Fire Department cuts engine staffing to three firefighters | The Locally Times
The department exhausted its 2026 overtime budget in six months, forcing a reduction in engine crew sizes starting July 1.
## Staffing Reduction Starting July 1, 2026, the Fitchburg Fire Department will reduce staffing on fire engines from four personnel to three whenever the fourth position requires overtime pay. The City of Fitchburg’s June 22, 2026, staffing update attributes this change to a $200,000 budget shortfall in 2025 and the depletion of the 2026 overtime budget within the first six months of the year. ## Budget History The current fiscal constraints follow the November 2024 failure of a referendum that sought funding for six additional firefighter positions. Voters rejected the request, leaving the department to rely on overtime pay to maintain four-person engine crews. The city reports that it has exhausted the funds allocated for these overtime costs for the remainder of the 2026 calendar year. ## Emergency Response The department’s June 22, 2026, FAQ states that 911 dispatch procedures and deployment times will remain unchanged. While the city asserts that three-person staffing is a model used by other departments in Dane County, the reduction means fewer firefighters will be immediately available on the first arriving engine for fire suppression, search-and-rescue, or medical support tasks. The city has not released the internal response time data or safety thresholds used to determine that this reduction will not impact service quality. ## Operational Oversight Staffing levels on any given engine will fluctuate based on personnel availability. The department will continue to staff engines with four personnel if the fourth position can be filled without triggering overtime pay. The city has not provided a public response to concerns regarding the reduced on-scene capacity of individual engine companies as of June 22, 2026. ## Key Questions **Will my emergency response time change?** The city states there are no planned changes to response times and that 911 calls will be handled and dispatched as they are currently. **Why is this change happening now?** The department exhausted its 2026 overtime budget in the first six months of the year, following a $200,000 shortfall in 2025 and the failure of a 2024 referendum to fund additional staff.