Fire Chief Steve McKinster warned the City Council on Tuesday that the Fire Department is "increasingly strained" by rising call volumes and stagnant staffing, presenting a 550-page master plan that calls for hiring 84 firefighters immediately.
"Fire departments do not fail all at once. They fall behind slowly," McKinster told Council. "They fall behind when demands grow faster than capacity, when systems designed for yesterday's cities are expected to protect tomorrow's."
"My concern is simple and direct," McKinster said. "If we do not act, we will not be able to meet the level of service the community expects and deserves."
Council could not vote on funding Tuesday.
"Even if several of us would love to take action today, that's not what's in front of us," Councilmember Clarissa Cervantes said.
Councilmember Jim Perry suggested staff return to the Public Safety Committee within 60 days with an implementation roadmap.
The master plan found that Riverside's average emergency response time has climbed to 7 minutes, 37 seconds — up from 7 minutes, 18 seconds last year and well beyond the department's 6-minute goal.
Brain injury from cardiac arrest begins at four to six minutes without oxygen. Structure fires double in size every minute.
McKinster recalled standing alongside Councilmember Steve Hemenway at the Mandalay Fire. When a second fire broke out, mutual aid responded. Then a third ignited at Hole Lake.
"You looked at me and I looked at you and my gut sank," McKinster recounted. "And you said, 'Who's going?' And I said, 'No one.'"
The consultant's data quantifies how often the department faces such conditions. The system operates in "overload" — four to six concurrent incidents — 26% of the time. "Critical overload," when seven or more incidents leave little to no immediate response capability, occurs 2% of the time. By 2040, those figures are projected to reach 54% and 6%.
The consultant's study found Riverside staffs 0.69 firefighters per 1,000 residents — the lowest among peer cities examined. Glendale, at the top, staffs 1.35.
The department's 225 firefighters have remained unchanged for seven years, even as calls for service increased 26% since the last staffing increase in 2018 and 72% since the last new fire station opened in 2007.
Councilmember Philip Falcone said he found a 1975 city document showing staffing levels and station counts nearly identical to today's.
The study recommends Riverside reach 0.95 firefighters per 1,000 residents to reduce system overload and meet response time goals — a ratio McKinster acknowledged is below the national standard of 1.35.
"What I didn't want to do is present something that was totally the national standard, which would be extreme," McKinster said.
Phase 1 calls for adding 84 firefighters, rebuilding or relocating Stations 4, 8, 10 and 12, constructing new stations in Wards 1 and 4, and purchasing seven apparatus units — at $26.1 million annually.
Councilmember Sean Mill described the conditions at Station 10: "You can't get more than three of us in the kitchen at once or we'll be knocking into each other. It was a temporary bandaid that's still there."
The city's staff report states plainly that the plan "does not identify or secure any new or supplemental ongoing funding sources beyond existing General Fund and Measure Z allocation."
Measure Z, the voter-approved one-cent sales tax, is fully committed through 2028 and provides no funding for Phase 1 improvements. The measure sunsets in 2036, leaving no replacement revenue stream identified.
Phase 2 of the plan projects ongoing staffing and infrastructure investments through 2040, totaling $293.4 million in capital spending over 15 years.
Council members voiced support for the department's needs while acknowledging difficult funding conversations ahead.
"This is about investment," said Councilmember Chuck Conder, whose Ward 4 is slated for one of the new stations. "We got to decide if we want to invest in the safety of the city."
Conder survived a heart attack he credits to a fast response from Station 9. "I'm quoting my cardiologist. I'm supposed to be dead."
Councilmember Steven Robillard drew a comparison to Los Angeles, where fires devastated Altadena and Pacific Palisades earlier this month after years of unmet requests for resources.
"Seeing that we are at a worse ratio than LA City is huge," Robillard said. "We don't have enough, not just for our city, but for our region."
Several firefighters addressed Council during public comment.
"This isn't a future problem. It's happening right now," said Firefighters Association President Mike DeToy. "Dedication is not a strategy."
The department currently handles approximately 47,000 calls annually — one every 11 minutes — and projects that figure will reach 83,000 by 2040 as the city's population grows.
Captain Shannon Smith, a 20-year department veteran who grew up in Riverside, spoke as a resident.
"Every delayed response has a face," Smith said. "It's a senior who fell who can't get up. It's a dad in cardiac arrest. It's a family standing on the street watching their home burn."
