Search is on for a WSFD fire chief

The era of an interim fire chief at Willow Springs Fire Department is coming to a close. Interim Chief Alan Lewis will step away from the position, and his position as Assistant Police Chief, with plans to retire by the end of the year. The exact date is to be determined, Lewis told Howell County News. 

 

In October, the city of Willow Springs announced the search to fill a new full-time position. The position combines the duties of fire chief with tasks covering animal control, code enforcement, and emergency management services. Applications closed on November 8, and thus the search is on. 

 

As the arc of Lewis’s one-year tenure as the interim chief comes to a close, some are questioning whether changes in the department will result in changes to homeowners’ insurance rates. 

ISO rating

 

According to City Administrator Beverly Hicks, there is no concern the city’s ISO rating will change. In an interview on November 8, Hicks did not hesitate to disavow any such speculation in general or as a result of anything that has happened since January 2024 when Lewis became Interim Fire Chief. She says there is no ISO review scheduled. 

 

An Insurance Services Office (ISO) fire insurance rating, or fire score, is a score from one to 10 that indicates how well-protected a community is by its fire department. One is the best possible score.

City Hall confirms Willow Springs’ score is a four. If the score increased, homeowners’ insurance would also increase significantly. 

 

The rating is based on staffing levels, training, department apparatuses (trucks, tankers, etc…), and proximity of the firehouse, as well as availability of water and hydrants. Parts of the score are based on local emergency communication systems and community outreach programs.

 

Willow Springs’ last ISO evaluation was under the tenure of former Fire Chief Matt Foster, at least seven years ago. No one interviewed by the News could remember exactly when it was, nor does the city have any documentation of that evaluation and subsequent score. There is no indication if or when there will be another evaluation.

 

There have been at least seven years of staffing and training level changes since the current ISO rating was established. As of November 1, 2024, only three members on the roster were around then and now.

 

A significant part of an ISO rating is the staffing level and training of the local fire crew, and high-profile personnel changes in the WSFD are the impetus for the concerns now about the city’s rating. 

More significant, Hicks said, is the expanded fleet of apparatuses the department has obtained since the last evaluation, including a new fire truck purchased last year. 

“We have more safety equipment now than we ever have,” Hicks said. 

 

Personnel changes by the numbers

 

In 2023, there were 16 firefighters on the roster. A Sunshine Law request for information as of November 1, 2024, showed 15 firefighters on the roster – ten of whom are recorded as responding to calls over a 32-day period.

 

Five firefighters responded to five or more calls in the same time frame. Of these five, two have Firefighter 1 & 2 training certificates. Three of them have Incident Command System (ICS) 100, 200, 700, and 800. One active responder is, “fairly new,” according to the city, and has no certificates.

 

As a volunteer department, there are no required qualifications to be on the roster or to respond to calls. The Fire Chief position is required by city ordinance to have Firefighter 1 & 2, ICS 100, 200, 700, and 800. 

 

See Fig. 1 for a chart of WSFD personnel, their qualifications, and their response rates as of November 1.

 

According to Interim Chief Lewis, “Two additional firefighters were added in November 2024, both having Firefighter 1 & 2. Some personnel have certifications that are not current, e.g., EMT certifications that have expired, or FF1 & FF2 Certification issued from another state. As of November 2024, six employees have received the basic training for Firefighter 1 & 2. We are planning on sending additional personnel through the Fire Academy again in January 2025.”

 

According to Lewis, his tenure began with only three members on the department with Firefighter 1 & 2. None of those members currently remain on the department. 

 

“To say we don’t have responders is just not true,” Lewis told the News on November 1.

 

Personnel changes by name

 

Citing RSMO 610.021 (13), which permits closing personnel records, the city of Willow Springs was anxious to keep individual firefighters’ names out of print. As a compromise, the information in Fig. 1 provides a picture of how the department functions by tenure, response rate, and qualifications. 

 

That is – not all the volunteers on a roster may respond to calls, and those who do respond may have varying levels of training and overall experience. Fig. 1 shows how the department is functioning as of this month. 

 

Interim Chief Lewis and Assistant Chief Sam Waldron both sat down with the News last week. On his own qualifications, Waldron explained that his Firefighter 1 & 2 are from Tennessee, yet are recognized by Missouri. He reports he has all his ICS certificates and “a stack” of certifications from various FEMA trainings.

 

According to figures in a year-to-date review, Waldron attended more calls than anyone else on the department. Waldron responded to 192 calls this year – three times as many as anyone else except Lewis, who has responded to 125. 

 

“All this time, Sam was the only guy who stood behind me. He’s had my six,” Lewis said Friday.

 

Waldron was promoted to Assistant Chief on October 17.

 

“By all the metrics we can measure, the department has improved, but we did lose some talent. We had good people who stepped away,” Lewis said Friday. 

 

Lewis stepped into the Interim Chief role upon the resignation of former Fire Chief Vance Farmer.

 

Lewis said on November 11, “My appointment as interim Fire Chief was not a position that I applied for. Rather, I was asked to step in due to ongoing personnel issues that created an environment of distrust which eventually led to the Fire Chief stepping down.”

 

Farmer was a fixture of the WSFD, eventually serving as Chief from mid-2021 until December 31, 2023. He made a brief return in 2024. The YTD numbers show Farmer responding to 44 calls. 

“For the record, I made my ultimate decision to remove myself from the fire department because of changes that were made by Lewis and backed by Waldron and the city administration that my personal beliefs and standards couldn't agree with,” Farmer told the News.

 

Farmer cited criticism he and others received for running calls in work clothes instead of the formal department uniform. Lewis elected to remove patches from that formal uniform, Farmer said. These patches held weighty significance for the firefighters.

 

Lewis explained, “In an effort to encourage comradery within the group, I decided to revise the department patch. With no new patches available to be issued and no supporting artwork on file, it seemed reasonable to design a new patch. The existing motto, ‘For our community, we sacrifice’ was not aligned with my vision. Being a firefighter is the best job in the world - it's a privilege, not sacrifice.”

 

According to Farmer, “The motto scripted around the center logo said, ‘For our community, we sacrifice,’ and that carries more weight than you can imagine for us who fight the flames for our community.”

“The third reason that ultimately tipped the scale for me is the blatant disregard for necessary communication amongst the department as a whole. Many important training opportunities and other important things were not delivered to the firefighters beyond the officer level. Lack of communication and lack of important skills training is diminishing the quality of the fire department and how it responds to the community’s emergencies,” Farmer said. 

 

The other high-profile departure from the department was that of Adam Webb. After more than 25 years in the fire service, Webb parted ways with the Willow Springs Fire Department in April. Webb has been the Fire Chief in Tyrone for 18 years. He is currently on the Eleven Point Rural Fire Department roster. 

 

There is disagreement about what exactly “parted ways” means. Lewis has repeatedly said he asked Webb to resign. 

 

Webb says he was fired. 

 

In a November 7 interview, Webb said, “I remember the day well. It was inside the PD in the interrogation room behind a closed door.”

 

“It seemed I was pointed out. After every call, there was a complaint. After so many years on the department, why all of the sudden am I the drama, the downfall?...I never had any intentions of leaving. I was proud to be there serving the community. I wanted to be another Don Turner,” Webb said. 

 

Webb applied for the WSFD fire chief position in 2021, when Farmer became chief, and Webb says he has thrown his hat in the ring and applied again for the position the city is now hiring. 

“Despite some of the rumors about me terminating employees, that just isn't true,” Lewis said in a November 11 statement. This statement outlines some of the problems he encountered when taking over the department – in-fighting, safety concerns, and “an environment of distrust.”

 

“My intent as interim Fire Chief has never been to cause division -- quite the opposite.  I've tried to place individuals with talent in key positions that would help drive the safety and efficiency of the department for the citizens that we serve,” reads Lewis’s statement.

 

This complete statement will appear in the November 20 edition of Howell County News. 

 

If you call, will they come?

 

In short, yes. WSFD is a volunteer department. There are no on-call shifts. The firefighters on the roster are dedicated volunteers who run towards danger and tragedy. They will hold your hand on the worst day of your life – and then go back to work themselves. 

 

The reality of a volunteer department is that, sometimes, no one will be available for calls. In the month of October, scanner traffic shows two medical calls where WSFD had no one available to respond, and one mutual aid call to a structure fire in Mountain View where no one was available. Fire personnel are part of a team of first responders including EMT and law enforcement. 

 

These mutual aid responses are the key to making sure every emergency is covered. Each time in October, when WSFD couldn’t respond – mutual aid departments, like Eleven Point Rural Fire Department, responded. 

 

They picked up the two medical calls. Eleven Point Fire Chief Frank Vanhorn told the News there is no bad blood of any kind between the departments. Any history of poor cooperation is in the past. Waldron said the same – there is no bad blood working with Eleven Point. 

 

WSFD regularly responds mutually with Eleven Point, Mountain View, Peace Valley, Pomona, Pumpkin Center, West Plains, Twin Bridges and Howell Rural Fire Departments. The cooperation of this community of volunteers means that if you call, someone will respond.