Disney World fire department understaffed, warns union

Firefighters at Walt Disney World say understaffing poses a safety risk as the Florida theme park resort grows even bigger with this year’s openings of a new Star Wars land and air gondolas.

“We just don’t have enough firefighters on property to make these families and visitors safe,” said Timothy Stromsnes, president of the Reedy Creek Professional Firefighters union, which represents crews working for Disney’s private government.

The administrator for the authority, the Reedy Creek Improvement District, disagrees and accused the union of airing concerns in the media to increase pressure as it negotiates a new contract. The firefighter’s contract expired at the end of last year.

Disney World spokeswoman Andrea Finger said the safety of guests and employees is a core focus of the resort.

At any given moment, 32 Reedy Creek firefighters are working a shift on the 25,000-acre Disney World property.

By next year, Disney World is forecast to have as many as 143,000 guests each night at its more than two dozen hotels and up to 153,000 daily visitors at its four theme parks and two water parks.

Add a workforce of more than 70,000 employees, and the resort, which is the geographic size of the city of San Francisco, could host anywhere from 215,000 to almost 360,000 people on any given day, according to planning documents from Reedy Creek Improvement District.

The Reedy Creek firefighters face challenges different from fire departments in major cities. While they help patrons with heat-related illnesses, rescue passengers from car accidents and respond to hotel fire alarms, they also help put out the periodic dragon fire, and they are summoned when the occasional holiday turns tragic.

The National Fire Protection Association said in a March research report there is no defined standard for a proper ratio between firefighters and residents. The median reported ratio for communities between 250,000 and 500,000 residents was 1.14 firefighters per 1,000 people, according to the report.

Reedy Creek’s ratio would be 0.67 firefighters per 1,000 people if there were at least 215,000 people on the property on any given day. The actual daily number fluctuates.

Reedy Creek Improvement District, a quasi-private, special-purpose government, is controlled by Disney.

It was created in 1967 when then-Florida governor Claude Kirk signed legislation authorising it to regulate land use, enforce building codes, treat wastewater, control drainage, maintain utilities and provide fire protection.

Walt Disney had originally envisioned building a futuristic city on the Florida property, but those plans were abandoned after his death in 1966.