Around 10:30 a.m., alarms sounded as the crew at the Redmond Fire District’s downtown station sprang into action.
A woman was experiencing stroke-like symptoms. A fire engine and an ambulance raced to her house.
The woman was shaking as she lay in the back of the ambulance. A paramedic calmly asked her questions about her condition.
Eventually, she made it to the hospital. All the while, the first responders hoped nobody else called for help while they were away, because most staff at the station responded to that call.
“That effectively leaves Station One’s district without any fire coverage,” said Aaron St. John, who’s been a Redmond firefighter for three years.
A paramedic from the Redmond Fire District loads a woman who fell in her garage into an ambulance. A shortage of paramedics in Redmond could lead to increased response times to emergencies like this, officials said.
Joni Land / OPB
Rapid population growth drives up response times
In Redmond, fire engines and ambulances have to scramble across this district’s 250-square-mile service area to meet a surge in demand. Calls for service in the growing city, just north of Bend, have increased 68% since 2016, and staffing levels have not kept up.
Fire officials said that increase in demand is leading to longer response times for people in crisis and more stress on the first responders. When crews from one station are busy, other stations in far-flung areas of the district are forced to respond, increasing response times further.
Redmond Fire Chief Pat Dale said a lack of staff is increasing the workload too much.
“It’s not sustainable to expect them to deliver this time-sensitive, highly-technical and staffing-intensive service with not enough people,” Dale said.
As Central Oregon’s population has exploded in recent years, emergency services have struggled to keep pace, forcing governments to find creative ways to hire new employees and retain old ones.
Often, that means more money. Voters in Bend and La Pine approved tax increases in 2022 aimed at providing their local emergency services with more resources.
Redmond officials hope to be next.
If approved, the proposed levy would increase the tax rate to 75 cents per $1,000 of a property’s assessed value. Assessed values are estimated by the county and typically are much less than a home’s market value.
The Redmond Fire District estimates that for homes with an assessed value of $200,000, the levy would cost $94 more per year.
Firefighters at Redmond Fire District receive training on wildland fire equipment. Fire Chief Pat Dale said they've seen fewer applicants for open positions, compared to previous years.
Joni Land / OPB
Worsening staffing shortage
Firefighters and paramedics in Redmond said they’re sometimes working 80 hours a week and can be absolutely exhausted after long, multi-day shifts.
It’s a problem plaguing private and public emergency providers across Oregon. Industry leaders told state legislators last year that many agencies were still at 1990 staffing levels. Low wages and long hours were cited as some of the reasons.
Dale and other fire leaders are concerned the working conditions will lead to people leaving the field altogether, worsening the staffing shortage.
Related: Oregon Coast firefighters see call volumes increase as volunteer numbers drop
It’s already more difficult to fill vacant positions when they do become available, Dale said. While a job at his department might have attracted hundreds of applicants 10 years ago, it now may receive closer to a dozen.
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” Dale said.
St. John said he left firefighting for two years and chose to farm instead. The workload was a primary reason.
“You can leave here and make more money doing something else, where you sleep in your own bed every night with a lot less stress,” he said. “I was absolutely burnt out.”
He eventually came back in 2020 though, because he said he loves the work.
Aaron St. John, left, and Capt. Sean Hagen, right, return to their fire station after helping a woman who fell on Sept. 25, 2023. St. John said he temporarily left firefighting due to burnout.
Joni Land / OPB
Redmond voters may reject a hike in property taxes, no matter how much officials say it’s necessary. In Bend, voters barely approved the city’s recent fire levy, with just 51% of the vote.
Redmond, by comparison, has a more conservative voter demographic.
Redmond Mayor Ed Fitch is hopeful, though, that the levy will pass. He said the city has a track record of supporting the needs of its police and fire departments.
“It’s a tough economy right now for a number of people because of inflation,” Fitch said. “It could be relatively close, but I do expect it to pass.”
Dale said if voters do not approve the levy increase, then response times will likely get longer.
Voters in the district have until Oct. 17 to register to vote in the special election, with election officials mailing ballots out the next day. The special election takes place on Nov. 7.
Related: $6 million will help Oregon fire districts hire more firefighters