By William Skaggs
In an ideal world, every fire department would arrive with NFPA-recommended staffing, modern apparatus and an army of support companies, but for many small municipal departments, that’s not reality.
We show up with whom and what we have. Sometimes that’s three personnel on an engine for nine in total on duty, and much of the time, it’s two on an engine with six available. More often than not, we’re doing the job with just six personnel. About 50% of the time, I have at least one firefighter with only two shifts on the job — no traditional academy, no experience, just eager to be there.
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I have three engine companies on a good day, and more often than not, no truck company on the first or second alarm for the many four-story buildings in my jurisdiction. Sometimes, I might only have two engines because one is tied up on a call and can’t break free.
I establish command and oversee the job — all while pulling hose, hooking a plug, conducting a 360 and making interior attack on the nozzle in a working command operation.
Often, mutual-aid companies will not arrive for at least 20 to 30 minutes, and when they do, they will likely be understaffed, undertrained and underexperienced.
The fire doesn’t wait
The fire doesn’t care about our department’s staffing levels. The clock doesn’t slow down, and the responsibility doesn’t lessen. The life-and-death realities of the job don’t change.
As an operational lieutenant in a consistently understaffed department serving 32,000 residents across 22 square miles, I routinely function in the role of a battalion chief or captain despite having only one bugle on my collar.
I quickly learned to meet NFPA standards with far less staff. This isn’t just a challenge, it’s a mandate. Rank doesn’t change the workload when resources are limited — the mission still has to get done, and it has to be done right.
The same burden falls on my firefighters. Every single one of them must be capable of doing the work of two or three people. They must lead an engine company with no formal title or authority. They must be adaptable, competent and ready to step into roles far beyond what their badge or title traditionally requires.
We don’t get a pass because our staffing is thin. We must still get to the fire, prepare for victims, and perform at a level that protects both our citizens and our crews. This means being more aggressive in our mindset and more disciplined in our actions. With no room for error, we must be absolute masters of our craft.
When we roll out the firehouse door with minimal staffing, we must maintain the same mindset as the best-staffed departments. Fires happen whether we’re ready or not. Victims don’t get more time because we’re understaffed. Our responsibility doesn’t shrink just because the roster does.
Slower staffing means faster thinking
We must always be aggressive and assume we are the only help coming for a while. This mindset keeps us focused, ready and hitting the ground with purpose.
When you don’t have a full assignment behind you, decisive thinking becomes the most powerful multiplier on scene.
At each incident, I ask myself:
- What is the single action I can take right now that will have the greatest impact on life safety?
- What can my small crew safely accomplish, knowing that we are going to overextend?
- What does the fire need, not five minutes from now, but right now?
- How many bottles before rehab today, knowing one-and-out isn’t going to happen?
Large departments can operate three tactical priorities at once. Small department officers must choose the right one — and choose it immediately.
Aggressive doesn’t mean reckless
Some confuse “aggressive” with “unsafe,” but the two are not the same. Aggressive means:
- Performing fast, accurate size-ups
- Making rapid decisions
- Taking meaningful action early
- Prioritizing victim survival and firefighter safety
With limited resources, we can’t afford lengthy deliberation. But we also can’t afford tunnel vision. Aggressive, smart and disciplined work saves lives.
Mastery of the craft is not optional
Short staffing exposes every weakness. There’s no margin for inexperience, and no backup team two minutes away to fix mistakes.
That’s why small departments must be technically sharper than anyone else. When staffing is thin, the fundamentals must be executed perfectly — every single time:
- Hose deployment has to be flawless.
- Forcible entry must be fast and efficient.
- Pump operations have to be automatic.
- Search techniques must be dialed in.
- Communication must be clear and succinct.
Mastering the basics is what keeps short crews alive and facilitates the rescue of any victims.
Communication becomes the force-multiplier
When you lack staff, communication becomes your strongest operational tool. These elements are critical to maintain control and momentum on scene:
- Clear arrival reports
- Early command establishment
- Realistic CAN (conditions, actions, needs) reports
- Precise task prioritization
- Early resource requests
We can’t out-staff a fire, but we can out-communicate and out-perform it. Clear communication allows us to operate more aggressively — and more effectively — despite limited resources.
Culture and leadership matter, especially when staffing is low
High standards don’t require high staffing. They require high expectations. My crews know:
- We expect fire.
- We prepare for victims.
- We operate aggressively but intelligently.
- We don’t take shortcuts.
- We take pride in mastering our craft.
- We do our job.
- Every one of them may have to fill the role of two or three firefighters at any given time.
Culture is built by leaders, not staffing numbers.
Final thoughts
When you can’t rely on NFPA-level staffing, you rely on preparation, communication and disciplined decision-making. When the standards can’t be met in numbers, they must be met in mindset and execution.
This is the operational reality in most small municipal fire departments. The job gets harder when your resources shrink, but that doesn’t change the mission. Limited staffing doesn’t mean limited capability. Under-resourced doesn’t mean underperforming, and it doesn’t mean we get to operate at a lower level.
It means we have to be better.
It means we must be sharper.
It means we have to be masters of our craft.
It means we must all be accountable and ready for a dog fight every time the tones drop.
We may do the job with less, but we still do the job aggressively and better than most.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
William Skaggs is a career member of the Alamogordo (N.M.) Fire Department, serving as a shift lieutenant, head of the Fire Investigations Unit and an adjunct instructor for the New Mexico State Firefighters Academy. In early 2025, he was sworn in as president of the New Mexico Chapter of the International Association of Arson Investigators, after previously serving as second vice president for the chapter, to which he was elected in early 2024, and as a member of the board of directors for several years prior, active in the chapter for nearly a decade.
REFERENCES
- Brothers in Battle, LLC.
- Champion, J. (2005). “The No B.S. Fire Training Guide: Tips for Them.”
- Viscuso, F. (2013). “Step Up and Lead.” Tulsa, Okla.: Fire Engineering Books.
