Spokane fire chief report: academy graduates, staffing shortfall and pending appointment

Fire Chief Williams updated the City of Spokane Public Safety and Community Health Committee on Dec. 1 that the Fire Department expects 16 academy graduates to join the force in two weeks and that additional academies are proposed for March and July to address staffing needs.

Williams said the department expects to be about 14 full-time-equivalent positions below target by mid-March because of retirements and other attrition. He reported overtime levels near 23% and that department spending is at roughly 92–93.4% of its budget year-to-date.

Adam McDaniel introduced a resolution to appoint Williams as fire chief and described Williams's 30 years of experience; McDaniel said the nomination will appear before the full City Council on Jan. 12. No committee vote on the appointment was recorded during the committee meeting.

Council members asked how prior fire-code fee increases had affected inspection capacity. Staff said adding five positions in 2022 allowed the department to complete multifamily inspections annually (the national standard) and that further data would be provided after a full year of the restored fee schedule. Staff also noted one protection-engineer position is currently unfunded in the upcoming budget and agreed to follow up on whether fee revenue shortfalls contributed to that funding decision.

Assistant Chief Lehi and other staff were available to answer ordinance content questions, and Williams credited the department's prevention and community-risk-reduction teams for keeping structure-fire numbers lower in recent months. No formal committee action was taken on the appointment or the ordinance restoring previous fee language at the time of the meeting.