DAPHNE, Ala. — Recent city council meetings have drawn controversy on immediate fire safety action versus a carefully planned approach. During the Feb. 18 meeting the council voted to appropriate $192,564 for six additional fire personnel and operating costs; Councilman John Lake cast the lone dissenting vote.

Mayor Fred Small vetoed the motion on Feb. 28; it was the first time he exercised that right.

The council voted to uphold the veto during the March 3 meeting, though Council members Cathy Barnette and Bailey Yelding cast dissenting votes.

Barnette in early March e-mailed several community members explaining her concerns for public safety and how she became aware of the issue.

“We learned in January that the fire station behind city hall was not manned,” she said in the e-mail. “We also learned that all emergency calls — fire and medic — serving District 1 and 2 are coming from Fire Station 2 on North Main Street. As we began to push for Fire Station 1 to be fully staffed and functional, we found out that only two men are on a truck per shift.

“The National Standard is recommended at five firefighters per truck but four is considered to be ‘acceptable.’ ”

Barnette said she’s researched the issue and has determined that the effects are far-reaching.

“After learning of several fires and responding to citizen queries about the function of Station 1, I probed further into our staffing needs. I started off pushing for staffing at Station 1 but then learned the problem was more than a south-part-of-town issue,” she said.

She cited Fire Chief Bo White’s December 2007 memo to the council to further validate her plea.

“There are many reasons that the Daphne Fire Department needs and should have four firefighters on every fire apparatus,” White said in a memo Barnette forwarded to the Bulletin. “Some of these reasons are to meet industry standards from agencies such as the National Fire Protection Association, Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health. Other reasons are for the safety of firefighters while performing their duties. And most important is that four firefighters allows our department to deliver a higher level of service to the citizens of Daphne.”

Barnette also contacted Alabama’s fire marshall about the personnel deficiency and received the same response.

Yelding agreed that fire personnel are working at a disadvantage.

“It’s not suitable to have two per truck. We need to get our firefighters up to where they need to be,” he said.

Barnette cited budget concerns as the cause for the decision change, though she said frugality should be second to public welfare.

“As all of these issues were coming to light, revenue projections for Daphne began coming in … we are more than $175,000 below projections,” she said in the e-mail. “There is no doubt that the city of Daphne needs to be fiscally responsible. We, as council persons, are elected to promote the health, safety and welfare for Daphne residents. Fire protection is one of the most basic city services!”

The city’s growth is imminent, so safety must come first, Yelding said. “With the population we serve, we need to have comparable firefighters and fire stations,” he said.

Small, on the other hand, said the issue needed planning, not hasty decisions. He suggested hiring three firefighters — one per shift — so that entry-level employees could man the large fire truck and the current emergency medical technicians and paramedics employed by Daphne Fire Department could use the smaller paramedic truck for medical emergencies.

“Seventy-four percent of calls are medical calls. Every time you see that fire engine running down the road, that’s where they’re going,” he said.

The use of the smaller truck would cut down costs such as maintenance, fuel and liability for the large fire engine, he added.

The fire engine has an air-brake system, so that truck must remain running on calls so the air doesn’t leak out, Small said. If the truck were turned off, it would take several minutes for the air to fill up — and emergency situations don’t allow for that kind of time. The fire engine, then, costs more in fuel than the paramedic truck does for the same call.

With three more firefighters, the smaller truck could move between the current stations instead of remaining at Fire Station 2, he said, adding that he believes this course of action would best serve the city, for now.

The firefighters and more fire stations are needed, but planning is important.

“Hopefully all our prayers will be answered,” he said of a grant the fire department applied for that would provide nine additional fire employees.

In the meantime, “we have the best paramedic crew there is,” he said. “You should feel safe living here in Daphne.”