The following resolution was adopted by the Lebanon Firefighters on September 15, 2023, and updated on October 4th, 2024.

Whereas, the Lebanon Permanent Firefighters Association represents the twenty-nine personnel currently engaged in operational duties at the Lebanon NH Fire Department.

Whereas, the City of Lebanon has seen significant growth in both population and construction development over the recent years.

Whereas, the City of Lebanon has not increased staffing of the Fire Department in an appropriate manner to keep up with the increased demands and requests for fire and emergency medical response, and

Whereas, the high volume of calls places undue strain on the existing personnel, risking burnout, fatigue, and diminished quality of emergency services.

Whereas, it is essential for emergency services personnel to have appropriate time for emotional and mental health recovery, safe response models, training, and education which are all compromised due to under staffing.

Now, Therefore, be it Resolved by the Lebanon Permanent Firefighters Association that:

It is the collective opinion of the Lebanon Permanent Firefighters Association that the current staffing of the Lebanon Fire Department is unsafe, not sustainable for the membership, and needs to be addressed without delay.

Be it further resolved, The Lebanon Permanent Firefighters Association request The Lebanon Fire Department by way of the City Council action immediately staff an additional eight positions, as requested by the Fire Chief.

And be it further resolved, The City Council supports a plan by the city and fire department administration to correct future staffing shortages in a consistent and data- driven format.

Now be it additionally resolved that if these recommendations are not met, The Lebanon Permanent Firefighters will continue to provide the best possible services to the citizens and the City of Lebanon.  We believe this to be done in an extremely unsafe manner and will do so only under direct protest when safe operations are called into question due to staffing shortages.  This includes but is not limited to single personnel response of any kind, no dedicated incident commander, and inadequate personnel to perform citizen victim and firefighter rescue.