December, 2021
by Dave ClineChief's CornerI hope this finds you well after the Thanksgiving holiday. Thanksgiving day was pretty quiet for our personnel, but we did past the 1,200 run mark for incident responses for the year. At the moment we are slightly behind the number of responses year to date from 2020. Many factors play into this, in our community weather can play a big role in our number and type of responses.
The time period between Thanksgiving and the New Year is historically the most deadly for residential fires. It usually brings together larger groups of people in our homes, and some may be unfamiliar with the escape plan. We are cooking more so the risk of kitchen fires increases; Christmas trees, decorations, and the use of candles all increase our fire risk. We ask that you consider all of these factors as you gather this holiday season, and do what you can to lessen the risks.
Our hiring processes continue as we work to add personnel for the opening of Fire Station #3. We often get asked, "why does it take so long?" First and foremost, we want to select the very best candidates to serve our community. We invest a lot of time and tax dollars in a new-hire firefighter, our hiring process needs to be thorough to ensure we are making the best investment in our future, Also, right now the job market for firefighters is very competitive. Several fire departments across the Kansas City metro are hiring as well so the pool of applicants is fairly small. We are continuing to take applications and moving candidates through our process.
This is an exciting time of growth in our organization. The support of our community has allowed us to grow and better serve our community. We strive every day to be the best we can in providing you prompt and efficient service whenever you may need us. I would like to personally wish you a safe and happy holiday season.
Dave Cline, Fire Chief