By Holly Roeder
Staff Writer
The City of Henderson Fire Department recently welcomed Fire Chief Greg Lipford to the helm with the retirement of Fire Chief Glenn Bryan. Other changes to the full-time crew include the promotion to Deputy Chief for Kevin Roeder and the hiring of Captain Kyle Connor. Those continuing in service as officers are Captain Michael Welch and part-timers Lt. Bill Baldy, Lt. David Hughes, Lt. Chaplain Gary Roeder and Safety Officer David Novak. In addition to the full-time crew, the department includes 22 “volunteer” firefighters who are paid per call and respond to roughly 150 to 200 calls each year. Calls primarily include structure fires and wrecks. HFD does not respond medical calls.
With the implementation of the mission and vision statements, Lipford says he hopes to improve training and create more qualified firefighters. The mission statement reads, ‘Our mission is to provide a safe, professional and courteous team that strives to exceed the expectations of the community and our organization.”
“This mission requires our members to be part of a capable, aggressive, team-oriented fire department that is focused on ‘Preserving the past and protecting the future’ of those we serve,” expressed Chief Lipford. He continued to say the newly adopted vision statement urges members of the department “to safely grow as a team, providing proven and progressive firefighting tactics to better serve our community.”
In addition, the department is working toward the regular use of SOPs and SOGs (Standard Opperating Proceedures and Guidelines) and improvement of the ISO rating.
The department handles all maintenance and general repairs on equipment in house, as well as a variety of training. Other training is offered online and at the National Fire Academy in Maryland. All firefighters are certified at state and national level.
In addition to being the newest hire, Cpt. Connor is also serving as the department’s first Community Risk Reduction Officer. He will serve by relaying information between the department and the public.
Chief Lipford said some of his immediate goals include researching and applying for grants to help with day-to-day costs and to finance special projects such as replacing air packs and the compressor system or outdated gear.
Another service the department will now be offering is pre-planning for businesses, including drawings of sites, as well as inspection for any structure in the city. For more information, contact Chief Lipford at 989-5664.
