Troy Fire Department cuts ambulance hours due to lack of funding

TROY, N.Y. (NEWS10) — The Troy Firefighters IAFF Local 86 has reduced the hours of one of its 24-hour ambulances, the department announced in a Facebook post on Tuesday. Due to reported financial issues, the Medic 3 unit will now only operate for 12 hours.

"As of tonight this unit will be coming 'OFF DUTY' from 2000-0800 (8p-8a) due to lack of funding," the Facebook post said, leaving three ambulances to cover the city of Troy at night, rather than four.

The Medic 3 ambulance first went into service a few years ago after the department recognized heightened call volume during the day. Designated as a "peak ambulance," the unit initially ran from 8 a.m. through 8 p.m.

Back in January, as seasonal illnesses surged and hospital wait times increased, Medic 3 was transitioned to 24-hour service. According to the fire department, the extra ambulance helped to meet the increased service demand and take the work strain off of firefighters.

"During the peak season, with flu and everything else, we were able to, through the mayor and her administration, commit some extra funding to put that peak ambulance on duty for 24 hours," Jeff Ward, the Unified Firefighters Association of Troy president, said in a press conference with Troy Mayor Carmella Mantello and Troy Fire Department Chief Rich Cellucci on Wednesday. "That was a lot of relief for a lot of guys that have been overworked, staying at hospitals for a long wait period. It definitely helped out during peak time."

According to Ward, the Troy Fire Department had a set date — Monday — to re-evaluate Medic 3's duty hours. After looking at funding, Ward said, officials decided to return the ambulance to its original 12-hour shift from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

"Unfortunately, based upon funding for the most part, we were unable to sustain [the 24-hour service] for any longer than what it was without affecting the peak ambulance staffing for the rest of the year," Ward said.

According to Mayor Mantello, the city budgeted $800 thousand in ARPA funds to support Medic 3's service for this year — but this total was only enough to cover 12-hour-long shifts. A yearlong 24-hour ambulance would reportedly cost about $1.2 million.

"We just can't turn around and find half a million dollars to continue that 24 hours," Mantello said during Wednesday's press conference.

Medic 3's rolled back hours came just weeks after a productivity and staffing report was released about the city of Troy's emergency management and fire response services. The study, which began in late 2023 and was finalized in February, highlighted growing emergency service demand and a substantial lack of resources within Troy's emergency and fire departments.

"The Troy Fire Department is under-resourced in almost every aspect of its operations," the report said on page 158. "The growth in demand for service has taxed the cross-staffed units as EMS responses have increased dramatically in recent years."

The study also emphasized the need to maintain Medic 3's 24-hour duty status. Without the additional service and other needed improvements, the report warned that the demand for emergency service would eventually overwhelm the capabilities of the department.

"This service has reached a pivotal point where it may just be a matter of time before the Bureau experiences an incident where a sufficient number of units are not available to respond to a serious fire, response times become constantly excess, the city has reached the breaking point of not being able to adequately fund overtime, or an excessive number of officers and firefighters reach burnout," the study said on page 159.

In response to the report, the city of Troy launched a 90-day task force, composed of fire department leaders, union representatives and stakeholders. According to the mayor, the force will collaborate to implement some of the key recommendations listed in the study and develop "long-term strategies to improve staff, efficiency and service delivery."

"We're striving, we're committed, we're working together to obviously figure out long-term, short-term solutions," Mayor Mantello said during Wednesday's press conference. "The study did provide no surprises — we need more staffing, et cetera — but the study also provided some real, concrete data. Now we're going to take that to the next level."

The group, which held its first meeting on Wednesday, is also reportedly trying to find a way to return Medic 3 to its 24-hour duty status.

"We would love to see it," Ward said. "We're trying to come up with creative ways to create the funding to make that work, to try to lessen the burden on all the firefighters that are doing all these calls."

Both Mantello and fire department officials stressed that the solution to the fire department's issues, including Medic 3's rolled back hours, will not be immediate. According to the mayor's office, the department has been operating under the same staffing model since 1996.

Since then, emergency calls have reportedly increased from under 6,000 to over 13,000 per year. Meanwhile, staffing levels have remained the same at 24 personnel per shift.

"It's running on a 25 year model," Mantello said on Wednesday. "We're going to change that model, but it's not going to happen overnight."

With the Medic 3 ambulance's return to 12-hour service, the mayor and fire department leadership attempted to relieve public concerns at Wednesday's press conference.

Fire chief Cellucci noted that it would be difficult to determine the impact of the loss of Medic 3's overnight service, especially because the department receives mutual aid from other municipalities.

"There is no formula for how many calls it's missing, or the impact of that — somedays it doesn't do a lot, somedays it never sees the fire house," Cellucci said. "The important thing to know is that we do have a mutual aid system set up with surrounding communities. Just because that ambulance or that fire truck up on Boght Road isn't available, we do have other fire apparatuses responding from other parts of the city."

NEWS10 spoke directly with the Troy Fire Department on Wednesday. Three minutes after Medic 3 went off duty for the night on Tuesday, the department had no ambulances available, the department said.

Tracey Berrien who just moved to Troy said, "I got to worry about it 24/7. I walk with a cane. I have a disability, and you know anything could happen to me. I could fall, I could do anything to my head.”

The city taking their ambulance off duty during the overnight hours from 8 pm to 8 am due to a lack of resources. Troy City Mayor Carmella Mantello, at a press conference said, “We're trying to be super obviously transparent about this. Does it put, you know, folks in jeopardy? No. But there's always that slight chance you know, we've been saying that all along.”

Jeffrey Ward the Union President for Troy Firefighters explained they have used the 24-hour service during peak season, “With flu and everything else, we were able to, through the mayor and her administration, to commit some extra funding to put that peak time ambulance on duty for 24 hours.” He went on to say they had a March 31st deadline to readdress the provided service and revaluate 24 hours a day saying, “After looking at the funding, where we were at, what funds we had available left, It was the conclusion that unfortunately, based upon funding, for the most part, we were unable to sustain that for any longer than what it was.”

The mayor said it is more than just a money issue, “It's a real issue. It's not just a financial issue. It's also about the morale and continue sustaining, you know, the sustainability of our fire department, ensuring that they stay healthy.”

Berrien said not having an ambulance overnight is a real concern. “I'm new here and something like that makes me not want to stay here. I'm a very sickly person and will probably get an ambulance eventually and knowing this now makes me maybe not want to be here,” explained the new resident.

Other Trojans were confident in the administration’s choices saying they are not worried about the decrease to service, “To be honest if they know what they're doing, then I think it would be good. You know, and just maybe show people why it has to happen and be truthful about it,” said Troy resident Sara House.

The mayor says she has the right people looking into how they can keep an ambulance on duty 24 hours. “There's no quick fix for this, we have been putting band aids on. But we’re here to fix this. We’re committed. We’re united, we don’t take this lightly,” said Mantello.