Right now, there are five firefighters on only 20 fire engines, which is just 10 percent of the department's fleet.
Supporters want to increase the number of 5 firefighters per engine to half of the entire fleet.
In a year when New York City has seen 46 fatal fires in just the first five months of the year, including a 61-year-old man killed Monday morning in Sunnyside, Queens, city leaders are searching to address the problem to save lives.
"Behind each of these statistics lies a story of sorrow, a life that is cut short, a loss, and a single moment that lasts forever for their loved ones and for our city," NYC Council Speaker Julie Menin said.
Menin said the firefighters' unions and several other council members are calling for five-person crews in 86 engine companies that are the busiest and deadliest areas of the city.
"The FDNY only reports how long it takes for the first unit to arrive in a fire. It does not report how long it takes to get water on the fire. It takes quite a bit of time to assemble the entire team. It takes longer to get all the rigs there. That's why it's more important to have the first arriving engines having this initial staffing. You get that hose in place quickly," Andrew Ansbro with the Uniformed Firefighters Association said. "The fifth firefighter is only not necessarily a silver bullet to stop to solve all of those problems."
During a city council budget meeting on Monday afternoon, FDNY Brass told the council it's unclear if adding a fifth firefighter will improve response times.
"If that first engine stretches the hose line and they're ready to operate, they're going to operate. It happens faster with the fifth firefighter," FDNY Chief of Department John Esposito said.
"Right. So if" it happens faster, what does that mean? Does that mean that the fire doesn't spread more quickly?" John Ariola, NYC Councilman, asked.
"We would theoretically put the fire out quicker," Esposito said.
Other factors cause delays, like blocked or frozen fire hydrants.
"Those fires in the Bronx that we're seeing generally in six and seven-story buildings that are over 100 years old. The potential for spread in those buildings is high. You can compare that to Queens that in some parts have smaller buildings, shorter hose line stretches. So that fifth firefighter would be much better off in areas with larger, larger buildings, longer hose line stretches," Esposito said.
The Council is asking the mayor to allocate for $91.7 million in the budget that begins on July 1st.
The city just balanced the budget three years ago and struggled to close a $12 billion budget gap.