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The city of Miami Beach passed an ordinance Wednesday requiring the fire department to provide a minimum of four firefighters on each truck, in compliance with the national firefighting standards established in 2001 by NFPA 1710.

"The union brought it to the commission and did an outstanding job of promoting the issue," said Assistant Chief Eric Yuhr.

Yuhr said a fourth firefighter will be invaluable in the densely populated resort city, particularly at high rise emergencies and frequent auto extrications.

Miami Beach is an island city in South Florida approximately 7.5 miles long by 1 mile wide, with a resident population of 100,000. With the addition of tourists, the population can exceed 200,000 at any time.

The department was already operating with four firefighters on each engine, but it will be new to have four on the ladder trucks.

"We're extremely pleased that we got the fourth person on the ladder truck. We just have a philosophical disagreement that it had to be through an ordinance," Yuhr said.

Department officials said they hoped to achieve this goal through a budget increase rather than an ordinance.

Having it required by law takes away their flexibility, Yuhr said.

"We have for three or four years been pushing through the budgetary process to add the staffing," he said. "Our position was it was better for the fire chief to be given the resources and make the change [himself]."

However, no one is arguing that the new measure will increase safety and efficiency, Yuhr said.

Chief Floyd Jordan said that to meet the new staffing level they will need two more people on duty, bringing them to 44 firefighters on duty every day.

This means they will need to hire eight or nine more people at a cost of $410,000 in the first year, or do a combination of some hiring and some extra overtime.

"I always wanted my staffing to be four on an aerial. But as a manager you have to look at it from a different viewpoint," the chief said.

The target date for the new staffing level is November 1. Jordan said they can't start now because they are in the middle of the current fiscal year and have no funds allocated for extra staffing.

Between now and November, the fire department will juggle its schedule and the city will add any additional funding the department needs to meet this new mandate.

"We're in uncharted waters. I don't know of another department that has minimum staffing by an ordinance," Jordan said. "Who knows, maybe Miami Beach is starting something across the country."

Jack Richardson, president of Fire Fighters of Miami Beach, IAFF Local 1510, said this ordinance was passed through a combination of political efforts that started back in 1991, when the union began backing certain political candidates including the now Mayor of Miami Beach, David Dermer.

"Oh we're ecstatic," Richardson said after the city commission voted Wednesday.

He said the union first tried contract negotiations to get the extra staffing, but went for it legislatively when that didn't work. The union also went for the law to make sure that future administrations couldn't reverse an increased staffing level. Richardson gave special credit to firefighter Adonis Garcia for his work in pushing the ordinance through.

Officials said the timing of the ordinance may have something to do with the events of September 11, when FDNY lost 343 members in the line of duty.

"Right now the focus is on the fire department," Jordan said. "I think many people are showing their support in whatever way they can."

Related: Miami Beach Fire-Rescue Department