The City Council is campaigning to enhance firefighting capabilities by adding a fifth firefighter to more trucks. Lawmakers believe this measure will enable faster containment of rapidly spreading fires, The Post has learned.
The legislative body is urging the Mamdani administration to allocate an additional $91.7 million. This funding would support staffing at 86 engine companies located in the busiest and most hazardous areas, reviving a longstanding effort to reinstate the “fifth man” on firetrucks.
This request marks the initial proposal as budget discussions commence this week, with lawmakers and Mayor Zohran Mamdani aiming to finalize a budget by the end of June.
“Adding a fifth firefighter to FDNY engine companies would reduce the time required to put out fires — protecting the lives of civilians and firefighters alike,” stated Council Speaker Julie Menin (D-Manhattan).
“Our hard-working firefighters deserve more resources, which is why this initiative is one of the top priorities for the City Council as we work to finalize a Fiscal 2027 budget that uplifts and protects all New Yorkers.”
Leading the charge is Bronx lawmaker Kevin Riley, who emphasized the importance of additional staffing for the FDNY to tackle the swift-moving fires caused by lithium-ion batteries.
“What the council is asking for with a fifth fireman will really help,” Riley commented. “It will help them move faster, especially with fires that come with lithium battery fires.”
“We’ve been having good conversations with City Hall,” Riley added optimistically.
Currently, only 20 of nearly 200 engines are equipped with a “fifth man.”
In his executive budget of $124.7 billion, unveiled earlier in May, Mamdani did not include these funds.
The fifth firefighter position was reduced in 2011 under then-Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a time when response times were about a third of what they are now.
Lawmakers have continually advocated for the full reinstatement of this additional personnel over the years.
In 2019, Councilwoman Joann Ariola (R-Queens) and then-Councilman Justin Brannan (D-Brooklyn) led a bipartisan effort to persuade former Mayor Bill de Blasio to expand the program citywide.
“Having a fifth firefighter staffed on an engine company drastically improves the effectiveness of that engine company, thus the permanent staffing of a fifth firefighter on all engine companies throughout the City would decrease the time it takes to put out fires, decrease deaths and injuries due to fires, and reduce overall costs of medical leave and fire damage,” the lawmakers wrote.
Former Mayor Eric Adams faced criticism during his tenure for eliminating 20 staffers from engines before later restoring the budget cuts.
