In early 2023, the Taylor Fire Department completed its strategic plan, but the next crucial step is to find funding to keep up with the city’s needs for fire services.
Such was the message from Chief Daniel Baum during his repeat appearance on “Taylor Talk with Jason Hennington” June 12.
“(The strategic plan) it kind of outlines a course for the future, things we need to plan for and growth we need to make in staffing and facilities,” Baum. “So now it’s just a matter of execution, which of course is dependent upon budget.”
Currently, the department has seven firefighters on duty over three shifts per day, in addition to administrative personnel, which comes to about 25 people, Baum said.
In the medium term, the department is working to double the daily staffing through adding positions via the budget cycle, which is just starting, as well as through applying for a federal grant, Baum said.
“The standards organization which kind of outlines best practices for the fire services is the National Fire Protection Association, and those standards say that just for a typical residential structure fire, you should have 17 to 18 personnel on the scene,” Baum said. “The only way we see that is by the assistance of our mutual aid partners … so we are a long way off from having that level of personnel, and it will be many years to get there.”
What’s more, this level of staffing would just be to keep up with typical residential fires, not companies such as Samsung Austin Semiconductor and other large-scale industries moving into our area, Baum said.
While staffing is one area, equipment and facility expansion is also important, Baum said.
“Our master plan does call for a third fire station somewhere to the south in the area of Taylor High School,” Baum said. “But the city doesn’t currently own land or have a design for a station, but that is something that we are discussing during the budget process, but as that area continues to develop, we will certainly need that.”
Baum said it would be good to have an additional fire station to have the resources more evenly distributed around the city.
“What’s most concerning to me is our simultaneous incidents,” Baum said.
Baum also talked about the dramatic fire rescue that took place at the Burnett Place Apartments on Sloan Street earlier this month, which was the first time lives were directly saved since Baum came to Taylor four years ago.
“We actually rescued people from a fire,” Baum said. “They were trapped on a second story balcony in an apartment complex and their choice at that time was either to jump off the balcony or succumb to the fire.”
Baum said this incident highlights the great value of the services these first responders provide the community.
“The fire department is kind of an insurance policy,” Baum said. “Most people routinely do not encounter the fire department. You may see us running up and down the roads with lights and sirens every now and again, but it’s basically a case where you are glad we are there when you need us.”
For this interview and other archived episodes of Taylor Talk with Jason Hennington, go to https://www. facebook.com/ GoTaylorTx/.
