Raleigh’s firefighters union is telling City Council to hit pause on a fast-growing corner of town, arguing that new homes near Jones Ridge Trail would be built in what amounts to a fire-service dead zone.
Local 548, the Raleigh Professional Fire Fighters Association, urged council on Monday to deny a developer-led annexation near Jones Ridge Trail, saying the planned neighborhood would sit where ladder coverage and full-alarm response are unreliable. The union says the city’s own fire-service calculations show response times that blow past accepted industry targets.
The annexation, filed as AX-37-25 and paired with rezoning Z-44-25, is scheduled for a City Council public hearing on June 16, 2026, according to City of Raleigh. The project’s public engagement page lists the rezoning as a conditional request that would cap construction at about 190 units under the proposed conditions, according to PublicInput.
Union Cites City Review Showing Coverage Gaps
In a June 15 post, the Raleigh Professional Fire Fighters Association (Local 548) published what it said were pages from a Raleigh Fire Department service review dated Nov. 17, 2025. The union said the review’s calculations put Engine 28 about 2.1 miles from the site with an estimated five-minute travel time, Engine 19 roughly six miles away at about 11 minutes, and Ladder 15 about 8.6 miles away with a projected 17-minute travel time. The union added that an initial full-alarm assignment could take nearly 20 minutes to assemble, which it argues is not compatible with modern fire-service standards.
Local 548 said those figures mean the proposal “fails to meet NFPA 1710 response standards,” according to the Raleigh Professional Fire Fighters Association.
Master Plan Urged More Stations and Staff
The union’s warning tracks closely with conclusions from Raleigh’s 2025 Fire Master Plan, which recommended additional firefighters, new ladder companies and several station relocations or replacements to keep up with the city’s rapid growth. The plan presented to council called for short-term hires and a phased, multi-decade capital program to address coverage gaps and apparatus needs, per the City of Raleigh.
Budget Moves, But Union Says It’s Not Enough
Local 548 noted that the city has approved some new spending for the fire department but argued that pay raises and recruitment efforts funded so far do not substitute for the station builds and ladder companies the master plan calls for. The FY-26 budget included firefighter pay increases and hiring process support, but union leaders say those measures fall short of the capital and staffing investments needed to close coverage gaps, as reported by Indy Week.
Local 548 has asked the council to delay action on AX-37-25 until recommended staffing levels and additional ladder coverage from the master plan are in place. The council is set to consider the annexation at its June 16 public hearing, and the city’s case files and project page contain the application materials and contact information for staff handling the case.
