CODES AND STANDARDS


NFPA 1710 is the national Standard for the Organization and Deployment of Fire Suppression Operations, Emergency Medical Operations, and Special Operations to the Public by Career Fire Departments, published by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA). It provides minimum criteria to ensure effective and safe emergency response for career (fully paid) fire departments.

Company Staffing - Minimum Crew Sizes
NFPA 1710 recommends the following minimum staffing levels for effective and safe operations:
  • Engine Company:
    • Minimum of 4 firefighters (including the company officer).
    • 5 personnel if the engine is expected to perform entry for fire suppression (interior attack) without a ladder truck on scene.
  • Ladder (Truck) Company:
    • Minimum of 4 firefighters.
    • 5 personnel is preferred where resources allow, especially for complex operations like ventilation, search and rescue, and forcible entry.
  • Initial Full Alarm Assignment (Residential Structure Fire, 2,000 sq ft):
    • Minimum of 17 personnel on scene.
    • This includes:
      • 2 engine companies
      • 1 ladder/truck company
      • 1 incident commander
      • 1 rapid intervention team (RIT)
  • High-Risk Occupancies (e.g., apartments, commercial buildings):
    • Larger initial response is required — at least 43 personnel may be needed for high-hazard occupancies.

Alarm Deployment - Response Time Goals
NFPA 1710 sets benchmarks for response times to ensure prompt action:

  • Turnout Time (from dispatch to wheels rolling):
    • 60 seconds for EMS incidents
    • 80 seconds for fire incidents
  • Travel Time:
    • 240 seconds (4 minutes) or less for the first arriving engine company to arrive on scene.
    • 480 seconds (8 minutes) or less for the full first alarm assignment to arrive on scene.
  • Coverage Goal:
    • These times should be met 90% of the time.
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How does NFD compare?
The following represents normal day-to-day operations at Normal Fire Department:
  • Engine Company:
    • Minimum of 3 firefighters (including the company officer).
    • 4-5 personnel if minimum daily staffing is met, which is exceedingly rare. This shortfall limits the crew’s ability to perform coordinated interior operations, forcing either delayed entry or reliance on arriving mutual-aid units.
  • Ladder (Truck) Company:
    • Minimum of 2 firefighters.
    • NFD operates its ladder trucks as "jump companies" meaning personnel assigned to the ambulance "jump" to the ladder truck if there is a fire call. This only happens when the ambulance is in quarters, which is becoming increasingly rare due to rising EMS demand.
      • This means if the ambulance is on a medical call, the ladder truck is unavailable. Conversely, if the ladder truck is on a fire call, one (or two, depending on the size of the incident) of the town's three ambulances are unavailable. This model reduces fireground capabilities and stretches EMS coverage simultaneously.
      • Because newer firefighters are usually assigned to ambulances, NFD’s ladder trucks are often staffed by less experienced crews without an officer present.
  • Initial Full Alarm Assignment (Residential Structure Fire, 2,000 sq ft):
    • Minimum of 12 personnel on scene.
    • This includes:
      • 2 engine companies
      • 1 ladder/truck company
      • 1 incident commander
      • 1 rapid intervention team (RIT)
    • Depending on the size/risk of the fire, the current model at NFD includes:
      • A "call back" to bring all available off-duty personnel back to their stations to operate fire apparatus or ambulances.
      • Resources and apparatus from neighboring departments are called to assist in fireground operations (Second incident commander, RIT, etc.)
  • High-Risk Occupancies (e.g., apartments, commercial buildings):
    • NFD cannot field anywhere near the 43 recommended responding personnel internally and must rely heavily on mutual aid and callback personnel. Larger incidents require multi-agency coordination, creating variability in arrival times and command structure.


NFD Response Time Goals
According to NFD's 2024 annual report, the following represents response times at Normal Fire Department:

  • Turnout Time (from dispatch to wheels rolling):
    • 60 seconds for EMS incidents
    • 80 seconds for fire incidents
  • Travel Time on average:
    • 341 seconds (5 minutes, 41 seconds) to arrive on scene within the town of Normal.
    • 523 seconds (8 minutes, 43 seconds) to respond to a mutual aid request to the City of Bloomington.
    • 649 seconds (10 minutes, 49 seconds) to respond to a mutual aid request to surrounding rural agencies.
  • Coverage Goal:
    • Proposed changes to station locations and staffing will reduce coverage and continue to increase response times to greater than the four-minute benchmark in some areas.
In Summary
The Normal Fire Department currently does not meet national response-time standards for emergency calls and falls short of the National Fire Protection Association’s (NFPA 1710) staffing recommendations. Most fire engines run with only three firefighters instead of the nationally recognized minimum of four, and ladder trucks are often staffed with just two. Because the ladder companies share personnel with ambulances, those trucks are frequently unavailable when ambulance crews are already on medical calls.

This short staffing means crews often arrive at fires without enough personnel to safely conduct interior attacks, search operations, or ventilation until backup arrives from neighboring towns. On a typical residential fire, the department fields about fifteen firefighters - two fewer than the NFPA standard - and depends heavily on mutual-aid partners and off-duty callbacks to fill critical roles. For larger or high-risk structures like apartment buildings or commercial occupancies, the department cannot meet the nationally recommended staffing levels without outside help.

While average response times fall just short of target limits, future coverage will continue to decline due to proposed station changes and rising call volume. In short, NFD’s firefighters are performing effectively with the resources available, but they are doing so with fewer people, less redundancy, and thinner safety margins than national standards consider ideal for firefighter and public safety.

​Purpose
These staffing and deployment benchmarks aim to:
  • Ensure firefighter safety
  • Support effective rescue and fire attack
  • Enable rapid deployment of resources
  • Maintain incident command and accountability
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