From left – Right Lion Bubba Hardy, Assistant Fire Chief Taner Drake, President Joe Sykora Jr
The Tomball Lions Club was grateful for the opportunity to meet Tanner Drake, the new Assistant Fire Chief of the Tomball Fire Department. Assistant Chief Tanner Drake gave his background information including nearly 30 years of experience serving as a firefighter at departments across Texas. Drake began his career in firefighting with the Odessa Fire Department, where he spent much of his time combating brush fires in West Texas and oil field fires. He worked his way through the ranks there for 19 years, leaving as an assistant chief in 2011 to become the fire chief in Victoria. He was there for seven years before leaving for the Houston area for the Webster Fire Department to be closer to his children and two granddaughters. Major points of his presentation included:
- An important aspect of his job is dealing with the well-being of firemen especially younger ones who encounter the tragedies associated with fire fighting;
- How do you measure performance in fire fighting especially when they pull up to houses/businesses totally engulfed in fire;
- Younger firefighters who do not have life experiences present a challenge to management. Witnessing frequent deaths/destruction in fires and vehicle accidents often results in career moves.
- Tomball has 3 fire stations; a fourth station is in the plans;
- Currently taking 7 to 8 minutes to get to some fires; the goal is 4 minutes; additional stations necessary to help achieve this goal of a shorter response time;
- Tomball Fire Dept has 27 permanent firefighters; 5 permanent admin employees; 10 or 12 part-timers, and 14 to 15 volunteers.
The Tomball Lions Club is proud to support our law enforcement and emergency services personnel who dedicate themselves to keeping us safe!
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