Baker City fire engine rotation dispute draws mayor’s criticism

Baker City’s plan to rotate its two front-line fire engines every three months has turned into a public argument over emergency readiness, after a firefighters union Facebook post on Monday, May 11, drew sharp criticism from Mayor Randy Daugherty.

The dispute centers on a 2007 engine the city bought from the Salem Fire Department for $25,000 in April 2025 and a newer engine Baker City approved for about $889,000 in November 2025. The newer truck was delivered in early 2026, and the city scheduled a push-in ceremony for February 10. Under the current council plan, the department would alternate the 2007 engine and the 2026 engine every three months.

Union leaders have said the rotation is meant to preserve expensive apparatus for the long term and reduce wear on the newer truck. Daugherty objected to the issue being aired publicly instead of being taken directly to the Baker City Council, while Kelley, president of Baker City Firefighters Local 922, said the post was not meant as an attack on city leaders.

The stakes are bigger than a single maintenance decision. Baker City says its combination, all-hazard fire department responded to 1,408 calls for service in 2024, a 34.65% increase from 2023, and is on track for about 1,400 calls again this year. The department staffs a centrally located station around the clock and operates two front-line Type 1 engines, a 77-foot aerial ladder truck, a Type 3 brush and extrication vehicle, a Type 6 wildland vehicle, a utility pickup and a command vehicle.

That workload reaches beyond structure fires. Baker City says the department also provides mutual aid across Baker County, elsewhere in Oregon and has deployed into Idaho in the past. The city says the department ended ambulance service in 2022, then later returned to ALS third-out ambulance response assisting Pioneer Ambulance Service, adding another layer to the equipment debate because engine availability can affect both fire and medical calls.

City officials have said the Salem engine was added to help replace an aging fleet. But the public dispute comes after several years of fire-department turmoil, including the firing of former Fire Chief Todd Jaynes in early March 2024 after his July 2023 hire, and his later $999,999 civil suit against the city. Current Fire Chief Michael Carlson, hired in April 2024, stepped into that history as Baker City was already wrestling with fire coverage, staffing and spending.

Now the council, the union and city hall are being pressed to show what the three-month rotation would mean in practical terms: how much wear it would save, what maintenance costs it could avoid, how the age and condition of each engine compare, and whether residents would see any slowdown or loss of reliability in fire response.