Small Town News

Town fire department evolves and changes under new public safety management system while retaining mission of service to community

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There is an old saying that the more things change the more things remain the same.

That proverb seems especially apt when looking at the changes made recently at the Superior Fire Department.

Remaining the same is the basic dedication and great service the SFD has always given in taking care of the community. The department has responded in every ' imaginable kind of crisis, from.major to minor fires to medical emergencies big and small to educating young and old about fires and a broad range of topics having to do with safety. What has changed in the past few years is that there is a bright new state of the art fire station in town. The "old" fire station on Magma in the heart of downtown is currently being used by the town of Superior as a recreation center. There have been discus sions of selling it, but its future is by no means certain.

Located at Mary Drive and Golf Course Road, however, the "new'' fire station facility seems to go hand-in-hand with an even more fundamental change in the way the SFD functions.

Fire Operations Chief Todd Pryor said the Superior Fire Department is now a full-time department made possible by full-time administration now operating out of the new facility. He said the SFD is moving towards a policy of not only responding to emergencies but being even more proactive in fire prevention through education and other activities. "Putting out fires is only half of our job," he said.

The SFD has been known over the past few years to show up at public'events where there are kids with its Sparky the Firedog robot, which is one of the ways the department is increasing its thrust for public education in fire safety. A noisy, cartoon-like animated Dalmatian dog sporting a red fire helmet and driving a fire truck, the robot moves about a room full of excited kids and amused adults like an expert entertainer. Interacting with the crowds, the remote control dog listens to people, plays audio tapes, blinks and winks, drives his truck in circles, all the while educating about fire safety.

Another area of change is the stepping up by the department of its enforcement of fire codes for commercial structures, Pryor said. This is related to the policy of increasing prevention strategies. "Fire code enforcement is key to fire prevention," he said.

The town is currently in the process of updating the fire code to 2006 standards, he said. Currently Superior is using 1997 standards in its fire code. The revision process will culminate with decisions to be made by the town council. Pryor said that citizens wishing to give input on changes to the fire code should contact him at the Superior Fire Department.

In the area of public safety, Pryor also said the town will be seeking grants to help out with the process of providing address numbers on all houses in the community and free smoke alarms.

He reminded the community that an important part of fire prevention is the regular testing of smoke alarms. He also suggested that families perform regular drills in evacuation and talk about what to do in a fire. He said information on these activities is available to the public at the Superior Fire Department.

RECRUITMENT

It has actually been three years, according to Pryor, that the thrust to build a full-time department has been a reality. Previous to that, he said the SFD was.always staffed and ready for emergencies but it was more of a part-time staff. The move to full-time improved availability and response time has been cut in half, he said.

The SFD has been able to hire additional paramedics as a result of more stable scheduling and an increased pay scale, he said. Currently, there are four paramedics and three EMTs on staff.

A fire department's reserve program guarantees coverage for anything that might happen in town when the firefighters are called to assist other departments or be otherwise in need of more personnel. "We've been recruiting steadily attempting to rebuild the reserve staff," Pryor said. The SFD has achieved a list of 30 reserve personnel but Pryor said they want to build the list with as many local reservists as possible.

Any local resident interested in possibly being a reservist for the department should contact Pryor. He said that the SFD is also hoping to arrange some firefighting operations education opportunities for local youth. The department is also active in facilitating the Superior police and fire Explorer scout-educational program. INNOVATIVE FIRE CHIEF

The Explorer program is operated by the Superior Public Safety Department under the general aegis of Public Safety Director Lou Digirolamo, who is also the police chief. The police and fire departments, however, continue to perform their separate functions and it has been said that firefighters are not police officers and police officers are not firefighters. The Public ' Safety Department is a part of the administration of Superior Town Manager Melanie Oliver.

This joint policq/fire department system is a relatively recent restructuring from a more traditional model of separate fire and police departments.

Pryor's job in and of itself is aninnovation, since he is the first "fire operations chief under the new system, which has been in effect a little more than a year.A computer expert who has worked in a variety of different kinds of jobs, Todd Pryor brings a unique perspective and skill set to the fire chief job.

Pryor graduated from Hug High School in Reno, Nevada in 1989. He was a.three-year varsity wrestling letterman and a National Merit Scholarship semi-finalist, as well as a recipient of the PepsiCo Scholarship. He attended the University of Nevada in Reno for two years working toward a degree in mechanical engineering. Fire related certifications he holds include Arizona State Firefighter I and II; Arizona State Basic Emergency Medical Technician; Basic Wildland; Haz-Mat Responder, Building Construction for the Fire Service; Arizona State Fire Inspector I; American Safety & Health Institute Basic Instructor; Pump Theory and Hydraulics; National Incident Management System 100, 200, and 700; Emergency Vehicle Operator; Leadership I, II, and III; Fireground Tactics; Arson Investigation I, II, III, and IV; and, Arizona Certified Fire Inspector.

He has worked for the Superio Fire Department since Decembe of 2002. Other recent jobs have been as a computer information systems instructor at Rio Salado Community College in Mesa (1999-2003) and a part-time assistant project manager for Mineral Mountain Mining (1993-2005).

He came to the Superior department via a comment from his brother-in-law that there were openings here. He previously held the position of cap-tain/EMT (Emergency Medical Technician) in the SFD. When the town adopted the system of having a "Public Safety Department" administered by a public safety director with a fire operations chief having the responsibility for the day to day management of the fire department, Pryor became Fire Operations Chief. That was in approximately June of 2008. He is also an EMT.



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