Chief’s Message

Message from the Chief

On behalf of the men and women of the Southlake Fire Department, we are proud to present the Southlake Fire Department’s 2021 Annual Report. This year was a very exciting year for the department and this report has been prepared to provide a snapshot of our year through highlighting some of the significant events and accomplishments.

During this year, we responded to 4,089 fire and emergency medical incidents, completed 5,280 fire code inspections, made over 1,000 in-person fire education contacts and completed over 27,000 hours of training to ensure we are focusing on our continual development and prepared to mitigate any situation that we encounter. Although our numbers in all divisions remained high, we still saw the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic within our department and our community.

As the City of Southlake continues to evolve and transform over time, your fire department has undergone changes as well. During this year, we had the apparatus replacement of Truck 401 and Brush 401. The new apparatuses were placed in service to increase our distribution and service delivery capabilities in the City of Southlake and surrounding jurisdictions. We continue to monitor our performance and abilities with a laser focus of providing the highest levels of services to the customers, shareholders and visitors of the City of Southlake, striving to meet our mission of providing world class service.

We also saw significant changes in leadership this year. We had four retirements with the department, representing 90 years of fire experience. We had one promotion to Battalion Chief, three promotions to Fire Lieutenant, and four promotions to Driver/Engineer. We also added seven new firefighters to our department and one Emergency Management Specialist.

Southlake Fire Department implemented strategic initiatives focusing on our effectiveness and efficiency through innovation and ongoing analysis of our services. Our success and initiatives would not be possible without our most valuable assets; our employees. Their dedication and work ethic, combined with the support from the City Manager’s Office and our Elected Officials, creates a cohesive environment where we all work together to achieve our goals.

MICHAEL STARR, FIRE CHIEF