Sand Springs Fire Department

Sand Springs Fire Department Station #1

The Sand Springs Fire Department is a full-time fire department located in Sand Springs, Oklahoma. The Sand Springs Fire Department covers multiple communities in Tulsa, Creek, and Osage counties. The Sand Springs Fire Department covers 64 square miles and about 40,000 residents. SSFD responds to about 3,000 calls annually among their 2 stations and has a Chief, Deputy Chief, and Fire Marshalls.

Early Fire Fighters[]

The Sand Springs Fire Department was founded in 1913. Town Marshal Robert Fleenor was elected fire chief of the Sand Springs Volunteer Fire Department. In March 1913, the Bucket Brigade was replaced with the 500 feet of fire hose purchased by the city. Charles Page donated another 500 feet of hose. Chief Fleenor had a team of horses to pull a fire wagon.^[1][2] The horses were used to pull the fire wagon until their stable caught fire in 1915. There are currently 32 full-time, unionized Sand Springs firefighters that are at the stations. They are always reportedly "on the line".^[3][4][5] In 1921, the Sand Springs Fire Department had one paid firefighter and nine volunteer firefighters who were paid for a response. In 1928, the fire department had three paid firefighters. In 1936, one firefighter was cut from the force when staffing was reduced to two firefighters. In 1950, the department had five full-time firefighters, and in 1957 they added two more paid firefighters bringing the number up to seven full-time and fifteen volunteers. The Sand Springs Fire Departments numbers of paid firefighters increased to twenty eight. In 1985, the last two volunteers in the department, Roy Morrison and William Forsythe retired.^[6][7]

Modernization[]

In 1970, station #2 was built in Prattville. In 1981, a new station #1 was built with the old station being torn down. From 2017-2019 Two new fire stations were built, one in Prattville and the other one is located on Morrow Rd. in Sand Springs, Oklahoma. The fire department also maintains a separate physical fitness building and an administrative headquarters. The new fire station costed $1.5 million, and was funded as part of the voter-approved Vision 2025 tax renewal.^[8] The city says "the old fire station #2 will be demolished". The place has since found recent success in the fires that accumulated around Berryhill.^[9] In early October, of 2021, Sand Springs Fire Department was awarded a $168,181.82 grant by FEMA. The fire department will use this grant to buy 26 new self-contained breathing apparatus, SCBA, and 10 new SCBA facepieces.^[10] In 2018 and 2020, SSFD ordered 2 new trucks for their fleet, including Ladder 1 and Engine 1.^[11][12]

Administration[]

In October 2021, Justin Hall was affirmed as the new Fire Chief. This promotion came after the retirement of the previous fire chief Mike Wood. Chief Hall had previously served as Deputy Chief from 2011 to 2021 and was the vice president and president of the local IAFF. Jeremy Wade was appointed to the role of Deputy Fire Chief on Nov 15, 2021, after the promotion of previous Deputy Chief Justin Hall.

Youth program[]

The Sand Springs Fire Department recently entered a partnership with Charles Page High School. The partnership lets students practice and go to training like other firefighters would do.^[13] The school district had a partnership with Tulsa Fire Department but with the new partnership, the students can transfer to their local department. The new partnership lets students in the program go on a ride-along and experience the life of a firefighter. The students will go to calls and go to training and go to class. They will run the same drills as other rookies, they will also attend emergency medical service training and learn how to handle gear such as ladders and learn how to use a self-contained breathing apparatus.^[14]

References[]