Fire Departments Across Mass. Fail To Meet Staffing Standards, Union Survey Shows

Posted on 07/25/2025

Nearly all Massachusetts fire departments fail to meet national standards for staffing fire trucks, based on a survey of local unions launched after the deadly Fall River fire.

Firefighters across the state say they’re worried they don’t have enough people to handle the next big fire.

“It’s putting the public in jeopardy. It’s putting firefighters in jeopardy,” said Rich MacKinnon, president of Professional Fire Fighters of Massachusetts, which put out the survey and shared it with WBUR.

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