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History
The Sand Springs Fire Department was founded in 1913 when Town Marshal Robert Fleenor was elected fire chief of the Sand Springs Volunteer Fire Department. In March 1913, the bucket brigade was replaced with 500 feet of hose purchased by the city. Charles Page donated another 500 feet of hose. Chief Fleenor had to unhitch his team of horses from his delivery wagon and hitch to the fire wagon if there was a fire in the town. It is said that after a fire, he would sometimes leave the fire wagon at the scene, as there was no place to actually house it.
Chief Fleenor's horse was used for the fire wagon until they were lost when his livery stable caught fire in 1915 through spontaneous combustion.
Some of the early records from the Oklahoma State Firefighter's Pension System show that in 1921 the SSFD had one paid firefighter (Chief C.G. Stricklen) with nine "on-call" firefighters. These firefighters were not employed by the city. Instead, they were paid for each of their responses when fire alarms came in.
In 1922 the department had two companies with ten volunteer firefighters and one paid firefighter. The City hired its second paid firefighter in 1923.
In 1928 the city hired another full-time firefighter bringing the total to three. This additional firefighter was lost in 1936 when staffing was cut to two firefighters.
In 1950, the city had five paid firefighters and thirteen volunteer firefighters.
1957 saw an additional full-time firefighter added to the roster and two more volunteers bringing staffing to 6 full-time and 15 volunteer.
A second fire station was built around 1970 to protect the southern Sand Springs area commonly referred to as "Prattville".
The SSFD grew to 28 paid firefighters during the tenure of Fire Chief Sam Harvey. The last volunteer firefighters retired in 1985. The last two volunteers were Roy Morrison and William Forsythe.
In 1981 a new building was erected for Station 1. The original Station 1 was torn down and now the land is the alley between city hall and the current Station 1. Also in 1981 their were three shifts, two stations with a Captain assigned to each shift at each station.
In 2004 the current authorized strength of the fire department is three companies responding out of two fire stations with an administrative staff of four including the Fire Chief, Deputy Fire Chief and Fire Marshal. In 2004 Fire Department Administration was relocated into a former attorney's office at 108 East Broadway Street. For the first time in ninety years, the Fire Chief's Office was located outside of the central fire station.
In 2006 funds were allocated to help grow the department from its current two locations. Nearly a quarter of a million dollars was allocated to purchase land for three (3) future fire stations. This would be the first major station additions to the city in nearly forty years.
A History of Fire Chief's...
Robert Fleenor, 1913-1918
Charles G. Stricklen, 1918-1924
C. L. Greer, 1925
Charles G. Stricklen, 1926 (Second Term)
C. L. Greer, 1927-1931 (Second Term)
J. A. Taylor, 1931-1933
Fred Meeker, 1933-1936
Leon Parker, 1936-1948
Clarence G. Harper, 1948-1950
Ray Bachus, 1950-1956
J. T. Moore, 1957-1959
John T. Williams, 1960-1970
U. Samual Harvey, 1970-1985
Russell Bartling, 1986-1989
Fred Shawger, 1989-1994
Wayne Bennett, 1994-1997
Bradd K. Clark, 1997-2001
Mark S. Joslin, 2001-Present