By MES Dispatch staff
The Briefing
- Anne Arundel County, Md. — A new Community Risk Assessment & Deployment Analysis urges the Anne Arundel County Fire Department (AACoFD) to add staffing and phase out cross-staffing, warning of response and safety risks. FireRescue1
- Below NFPA 1710 benchmarks: Most suppression units run 3-person crews (NFPA recommends 4); only 3 of 7 ladder trucks are consistently 4-person. FireRescue1
- Cross-staffing strain: Single crews toggling between an engine and medic (or rescue) leave apparatus unavailable; firefighters report 10+ swaps per day, with PPE/tools moved between rigs. FireRescue1
- Union stance: Anne Arundel County Professional Fire Fighters calls current model a “ticking time bomb” and asks county leaders to end cross-staffing and hire to national standards. FireRescue1
- Department view: AACoFD says it meets incident-level staffing by sending more units, but the system is “stretched” as calls grow (84,791 runs in the past year, mostly EMS). FireRescue1
ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY, Md. — A county-commissioned analysis recommends adding firefighters and reworking deployment to reduce reliance on cross-staffing, a practice the report links to longer response times, reduced system capacity and increased risk as call volume climbs.
The 2024 Community Risk Assessment & Deployment Analysis—conducted by Emergency Services Consulting International after 2023 labor negotiations—finds most AACoFD suppression companies operate with three firefighters, below NFPA 1710 guidance for four. While the department often meets incident staffing by sending more vehicles, that approach pulls units out of service and leaves fewer resources for simultaneous incidents, officials acknowledged. FireRescue1
Union leaders said the cross-staffing model—one crew covering multiple rigs—creates operational gaps. Crews report frequent gear swaps (sometimes 10 times daily) between a rescue and engine, adding seconds or minutes and inviting human error under stress. “Understaffing puts the community and firefighters at risk…we’re doing a lot with very little,” union president Joe Addivinola said, urging the county to hire to national standards and end cross-staffing over time. FireRescue1
AACoFD spokesperson Capt. Jenny Macallair said the report offers a data-driven roadmap to prioritize future staffing and deployment choices: “This isn’t about correcting a failure; it’s about planning responsibly for the future.” The department handled 84,791 calls from Dec. 1, 2024, to Dec. 1, 2025, the vast majority EMS. Recommendations include 4-person staffing on every suppression unit, a fully staffed fireboat, and ensuring a special service (ladder or rescue) is crewed consistently. FireRescue1
The county has grown the budgeted force from 853 (FY2019) to 927 today, but the report and union say additional positions—potentially ~150—are needed to hit targets and keep apparatus in service. County Executive Steuart Pittman will release a proposed FY2027 budget in the spring; the fire chief is slated to brief the administration in early March. FireRescue1
Why it matters: As modern synthetic-fueled fires intensify and overlapping EMS runs rise, crew size and unit availability directly affect time-to-task and firefighter safety. The analysis frames near-term hiring and deployment changes as essential to maintaining reliable response across Anne Arundel County. FireRescue1