BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Bethlehem City Council on Thursday rejected multiple budget amendments that would have added four firefighters to the city’s fire department, despite urgent pleas from firefighters, union officials and two council members who argued staffing shortages have reached a crisis point.
Councilwoman Grace Crampsie Smith proposed amendments to the 2026 budget that would have reallocated funding from the city’s Community Recovery Fund, the firefighter overtime budget and the Department of Community and Economic Development to hire four new firefighters and promote four current firefighters to lieutenant upon academy completion. She said the changes were needed to ensure an officer is assigned to Engine 9, which currently operates without one.
“It is essential that we staff an officer at Engine 9, which currently lacks an officer resulting in one officer being responsible for calls to two stations at once,” Crampsie Smith said…