PITTSBURG, Kan. — The city continued with its departmental budget sessions with the Pittsburg Fire Department on Tuesday evening. Fire Chief Jack Spencer began his presentation by immediately setting the tone.

“I want to frame this budget discussion as a service-level and risk management briefing,” Spencer said, “not as a wish list.”

Spencer’s purpose was to show what his department can do; how demand has changed; identify where Pittsburg Fire is strong and where it needs to plan ahead “before small gaps become large problems.”

According to Spencer, the mission of Pittsburg Fire is to serve and safeguard the community through excellent fire suppression, emergency response, member training, fire prevention, public education, and charitable outreach. Its vision is to be a forward-thinking department that sets the standard for excellence through professionalism, innovation, and accountability.

“These are not just words on a wall,” Spencer said, “but a guiding principle to shape budget priorities.”

For Spencer, the issue at hand is simple. “What level of service does Pittsburg expect and what must be put in place to protect that level of service.”

With that clarity of purpose in mind, Spencer went into detail about the department’s current equipment and capabilities, answering commissioners’ questions as he went. He explained that the standard is for the first engine to arrive on scene within four minutes, the second within six, and full response within eight.

Given the location of the department’s three stations, the bulk of the city is properly covered, but there are outlying areas of concern around the airport in the northwest and in the southwestern parts along the highway from Carpino Ford to the casino and FedEx center.

Spencer’s long-term strategic plan is to make Pittsburg Fire a regional asset in capabilities and training. The first goal is requiring all Pittsburg firefighters to be certified as basic emergency medical technicians (EMT-B) in addition to qualified firefighters. This will allow firefighters to better assist Crawford County EMS during medical callouts. To help facilitate this, all trucks should be fully stocked and provisioned to support this requirement, he said.

Pittsburg Fire is to be the center for regional training by expanding and improving training areas, bringing the initial firefighting training back home. This facilities improvement will also include advanced courses for specialized tasks such as water rescue, rope training, hazardous materials, and enclosed spaces/collapses that would allow more cross training with neighboring agencies.

Spencer also wants to develop a comprehensive management plan to better identify, control, train, and document potential risks and be able to review and revise operating procedures to meet those risks.

One of the most concerning, Spencer said, is the health of his firefighters. Given today’s modern building practices, what seems like a simple housefire, in reality, is more dangerous because of the hazardous materials used in construction. Many firefighters are at increased risk of cancer as a result.

With a lot of young firefighters in his department, Spencer said he would like to see them become old firefighters.

Lastly, Spencer wants to create a formalized equipment replacement plan. With some trucks nearing the end of their lifecycle, a more predictable replacement plan would be preferable to making emergency acquisitions. The same is true for a firefighter’s “bunker gear” which has a typical lifespan of about 10 years, if well maintained.

In order to accomplish these goals, Spencer laid out some of the more immediate needs of his department. First up, modern trucks are heavier than they were 30 years ago. As a result, the concrete at Stations Two and Three is in need of replacement.

Spencer said he sat in on the presentation about the airport and was surprised at the amount of gasoline and aviation fuel sold and the number of flights in and out. Based on that, a response plan for the airport needs to be developed and ensure the proper firefighting equipment is procured.

Administratively, Spencer said he needs a unified record management system that will enable his department to be more efficient in reporting and documenting training cycles, shift calendars, inventory management, and other administrative duties that are currently run on separate platforms. Acquiring a more effective system would reduce the amount of redundancy in the department’s records.

Lastly, Spencer would like to hire three new full-time firefighters, one for each shift. He reported that the department has not increased the number of personnel since the 1990s despite a dramatic increase in calls.

“The goal is not to simply spend more,” read one of Spencer’s slides. “The goal is to plan better.”

This reporting is made possible, in part, by the Support Local Journalism Project Fund. Learn more at: southeastkansas.org/Localnews