The city of 86,607 residents will now have a third permanent ambulance in rotation, and, if necessary, crews to be paid with overtime funds.
The council authorized the use of overtime to fund the Fire Department personnel who will operate the ambulance.
Councilman Bill Gibson, who said he has been waiting for years to see a third ambulance in continuous operation, proposed the measure.
"It's way overdue," he said after colleagues approved the plan.
The city relied on mutual aid from neighboring towns in the past when both ambulances were out and a third was needed. That should happen only when a fire like Marcal breaks out, Gibson said.
"This is Clifton. We take care of our own," he said. In recent years the city has been awarded two Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response grants totaling more than $2.1 million that helped add about 15 firefighters to the department.
The grants were to be used, in part, to get the third ambulance in the rotation.
The use of overtime personnel to staff the ambulance is expected to be a temporary solution until five new firefighters are added to the roster of 143 in March.