This is taken from the September 17, 2003 Paducah Sun article when Commissioner Smith stated that it's "not practical" to bring the staffing up to make Paducah a safer place to live and run a business. Nor does Commissioner Smith want to keep the Paducah firefighters safe on structural  fires. Staffing on the Paducah fire trucks are at the lowest in it's long history and with the current staffing, it's the most dangerous EVER!

.....was asked to hire six new firefighters over time by Fire Chief Redell Benton, who was briefing the commission on his department's operations.

Adding six positions, which would raise the number of firefighters to 75, would allow the department to man all of its trucks with four people. Because the department is required in non-rescue situations to have two men outside a building if two go in, Benton said, three men on a truck have to wait for another truck to arrive before entering a building.

The commission appeared reluctant to approve the request.

Benton also recommended not reducing the number of fire stations from five, pointing out that the department has the same number of stations it had when he was hired in 1971. The city then had 13 square miles; it now has about 20.