City of Tonkawa has approved increased staffing for the fire department. Starting July 1, The fire department will transition to 3 personnel per shift. Currently, operations consist of 2 personnel on shift 24 hours on duty and 48 hours on call with volunteer personnel keeping operations running during high call volumes. There is 1 fire fighter and 1 lieutenant on each of the 3 shifts with Mondays and Fridays being a mandatory day off for 1 person on shift to limit overtime pay. The Assistant Chief works Mondays and Fridays to fill this personnel shortage. Each employee has approximately 10 shifts a year to take off for paid holiday or vacation leave. This is 70 days through-out the year when the fire department is scheduled to have 1 person on duty. With the increased staffing. This will allow for 3 person shifts and provide 2 firefighters to respond to every call through out the year. Current fire chief, Rob Fehring says “This will provide adequate staffing to respond to emergency calls without waiting on additional firefighters to respond from home.”. With the increased call volume of the department in recent years and the economic activity increasing with in the city, this is the ideal time to increase staffing. Former fire chief and current City Manager Kirk Henderson says “This is something I have been working on getting accomplished for several years.”. Tonkawa Fire department responds to Structure Fires, Grass Fires, Medical calls, Hazardous Materials, Gas leaks, vehicle wrecks, and technical rescues like building collapses, trench collapses and confined space entrapments. Today’s firefighters have to be highly trained for all hazards and Tonkawa Fire Department is among the highest trained in the country.
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