Collingswood firefighters are sounding the alarm that their department is stretched too thin, with crews sometimes responding to fire calls with just two people on the engine instead of the four considered standard for safe operations. The borough's fire union, IAFF Local 3249, says the shortage has left both fire suppression and ambulance response vulnerable to dangerous gaps.
The union's warning, first reported by CBS Philadelphia, describes a department that splits its crews to cover both fire and EMS calls simultaneously — a structural problem that leaves ambulance services understaffed whenever an engine responds to a fire, and vice versa. Camden County IAFF Local 3249 has reported staffing shortages, delayed response times, and gaps in emergency coverage across the department, per that same report. Union member Keith Kemery said two-person engine crews increase the risk of fire spread and danger to both civilians and firefighters, adding that “the people in Collingswood should be and are concerned.”
The stakes became starkly visible in February 2026, when Collingswood firefighters had to respond to a structure fire call at a 10-story residential high-rise with only two personnel on the engine, according to FOX 29 Philadelphia. The remaining crew members were tied up on an ambulance call at the time, and local officials acknowledged the incident at a public meeting.
A Department Built for Four, Running on Two
The Collingswood Fire Department employs 17 full-time career personnel — 12 firefighters, two lieutenants, two captains, and one chief — operating on a three-platoon system, according to the department's own account on the IAFF Local 3249 Facebook page. That structure produces a daily baseline of just four firefighters per shift to cross-staff both an engine and a Basic Life Support ambulance, meaning any simultaneous medical call can immediately drain the station or push engine response down to two people.
Fire Chief Geoffrey Joyce has said the department previously relied on part-time firefighter-EMTs to fill out shift staffing, but the regional applicant pool for part-time, dual-certified personnel collapsed following the COVID-19 pandemic, per the FOX 29 report. Call volume has grown since the pandemic as well, according to CBS Philadelphia, compounding the pressure on a department that responds to about 4,000 fire and EMS calls a year, according to figures reported by Camden County IAFF Local 3249. The department's obligations extend beyond Collingswood's own borders too: under municipal contract, it provides fire suppression and EMS transport not only to Collingswood Borough but also to portions of neighboring Haddon Township, according to the Manitou, Inc. feasibility report.
National Standards Collingswood Can't Meet
The staffing shortfall puts Collingswood at odds with national benchmarks. NFPA Standard 1710 calls for a minimum of four firefighters on each engine company and at least 15 to 17 personnel for an initial response to a residential structure fire, a standard cited by the International Association of Fire Fighters. Live-burn research by the National Institute of Standards and Technology found that four-person crews complete essential fireground tasks and search-and-rescue operations 30% faster than two-person crews and 25% faster than three-person crews, according to the IAFF.
Federal workplace safety rules compound the problem. OSHA regulations under 29 CFR 1910.134 enforce the “two-in, two-out” rule, requiring a minimum of four firefighters on scene — two conducting interior operations and two on standby for rescue — before entering a burning structure, with an exception only for immediate life-saving rescues, per the IAFF. A two-person engine crew cannot legally satisfy that rule without waiting for mutual aid or ambulance support to arrive.
Privatizing EMS Emerges as the Top Fix
Collingswood hired an independent consultant to study its fire and EMS procedures, and that consultant, Manitou, Inc., presented recommendations at a commissioners' meeting, ranking privatization of EMS transport as its top recommendation. The September 2026 report concluded that outsourcing ambulance transport would guarantee a minimum four-person engine staffing per shift, improve firefighter recruitment and retention, and likely cost less than hiring three additional full-time firefighter-EMTs.
Deputy Mayor Amy Henderson Riley met with the fire department a few months after taking office in 2025 and says she intends to make privatizing EMS the borough's next step, arguing it will provide needed relief for Collingswood's fire and EMS professionals. She has scheduled a meeting with other Camden County leaders for the week after Wednesday, where Camden County leaders will discuss and work together on privatizing emergency medical services regionally.
The push toward outsourcing follows a rocky year. Collingswood Commissioners voted 2-1 in December 2025 to award a one-year EMS contract to Virtua Health, but former mayor and current Commissioner Jim Maley filed an ethics lawsuit alleging Mayor Daniela Solano-Ward should have recused herself because her husband is a physician in the Virtua network, according to EMS1. A Camden County Superior Court judge issued a temporary injunction in January 2026 halting the transition while the court reviewed the challenge, a legal fight that, along with the resulting study, cost borough taxpayers roughly $70,000, per the same report.
Residents and Union Members Await Next Steps
Collingswood union members plan to schedule meetings about how to move forward, and residents say they want reassurance that they are being protected. Local resident Joe Kish said he expects someone will respond promptly if he calls 911, while fellow resident Jay Calderwood called the firefighter shortage “very concerning,” adding that “something has to be done.”
For now, the borough's next formal step rests with the meeting among Camden County leaders scheduled for the week after Wednesday, where regional officials are expected to discuss privatizing emergency medical services as a shared approach to the staffing crunch straining departments like Collingswood's.
