[LSNN] Meet the new Fire Chief

[LSNN]

 

Meet the new Fire Chief!
Callie Palencia

Los Santos News had the chance to sit down with the Fire Chief Randy Sikes

Los Santos News Network was able to setup a meeting with the newly inaugurated Fire Chief Randy Sikes and Freddy Mellet to talk about the future of the Fire Department and the plans of the future. We learned a lot of new things, including the new station that will be opened shortly! 

 (Left to right) Freddy Mellet, Randy Sikes, Callie Palencia.

Full Interview

Callie Palencia: What changes do you plan on bringing forward to the department
Randy Sikes: My immediate goal is to review and update our policies and procedures, allowing them to be better understood and clarify what is expected of my employees. We're also in the process of replacing most of our fleet, starting with our engine companies. Our technical rescue capabilities are being expanded with the purchase of new rescue trucks. And lastly, we're looking forward to expanding our operations into Paleto Bay and the surrounding areas through our volunteer program and hope to push for funding in doing so.
Callie Palencia: When do you plan on making the purchase, any time soon?
Randy Sikes: The purchases have been made and the trucks have been spec'd out. We purchased five new engines, a heavy rescue, HazMat, and off road rescue vehicle.We're awaiting for them to finish testing before they come to us. They have to be thoroughly tested by the manufacturer.
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Callie Palencia: The Fire Department has undergone heavy scrutiny from the public lately, especially with the past riots, How do you plan on improving the Fire Department's reputation? 
Randy Sikes: I'm happy to address specific concerns if you have them. With that said, going forward with our Public Relations team, we'll be getting more involved in the community by hosting community meetings where we can have discussions with the public and address any concerns they may have.
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Callie Palencia says: What do you feel can be improved within the Fire Department? And how will you tackle that
Randy Sikes: Of course, this is one of the most important questions for a new Fire Chief. There is always room for improvement; one thing that we have to do is keep moving forward and not remain stagnant. We hope to lead by example in implementing a structure that works. Part of our recent improvements was the establishment of our Fire Academy, in which we bring on new candidates in an extensive training program that prepares them for the real deal. The academy streamlines the whole recruitment process, in contrast to individualized training in the past which took a lot of time and resources. Our training instructors have been doing a fantastic job in that regard.  Lastly, my goal is to be as transparent as possible with my employees and be open to feedback and suggestions from both my employees and the public. This allows me to push forward changes that are most effective.
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Callie Palencia: I see, and speaking of transparency, how do you plan on being more transparent with the public; this can be anything from expenditures, general internal affairs data. I believe the old fire chief... Hunter? Was happy to release data upon request, when I did ask about it. 
Randy Sikes: Of course.  We publish a monthly newsletter to the department which is a great source for finding relevant information of what's going on, as well as recognizing outstanding members and their accomplishments. Along with the previously mentioned community meetings, that should also allow further transparency in giving the public a platform to let us know about their suggestion and issues. Along with that, I will be happy to release internal affairs statistics and comment on completed investigations. These should all be seen in the near future from our ever-growing Public Relations division who are doing some outstanding work.
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Callie Palencia: Do you plan on opening any other Fire Stations? 
Randy Sikes: Yes, currently we have plans to open two more stations. Station One in Paleto Bay was previously closed due to manpower limitations, and we will be reopening it as a volunteer station in the near future. Station Two, in Rockford Hills, will also be opening very quickly. It'll house our headquarters staff, and all of our administration functions. We'll also consider staffing it with response vehicles, but that's long term. Last month, we also opened Station Six at Los Santos International Airport, which services LSIA, contains our Fire Academy, and houses our Air Operations Division. Needless to say, we're expanding pretty quickly. And that's also in great part to Chief Hunter. He had a vision of what he wanted the department to be, and I'm now helping carry it out.
Callie Palencia: I see, when you say fully staffed Volunteer station, will that 100% volunteers? 
Randy Sikes: It will likely be a hybrid of paid staff and volunteers; at least at first. Our Captains are all full-time staff, so the station would have to be managed by them. That may change, depending on the needs of the department.
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Callie Palencia: Mental Health is a complex issue to cover, especially with Firefighters and EMS, how do you plan on supporting your staff that may suffer from mental health issues?
Randy Sikes: Of course, this is something that hits very close to me. It's widely known that firefighters and other first responders undergo God's work on a day-to-day basis and often have to experience trauma that very few could imagine. There's a lot of mental pressure that can be seen from our employees as a result of what they experience in their jobs and we've made extensive efforts in allowing periods of leave on the basis of mental health. Every year across the country, there are more suicides in first responders than actual line-of-duty deaths. Part of the problem regarding mental health is the fear of talking to a psychologist; a stigma has risen around it not just in the fire department, but in general life. In an effort to help our staff in difficult times moving forward, we'll be expanding our network of available psychologists and chaplains that our staff can reach out to at any time.  Another thing we'll be implementing is something that fire departments across the world already do, and that's a critical incident stress debriefing. This can be activated after a serious call where the attendees can sit down with one another and talk about what happened in an open forum. Sometimes when you bring outside people in to deal with these situations, it can cause us to be closed off. So what this does is allow them to talk about it with those who were actually there. The other thing I'll be addressing is the way we discipline staff who may be suffering from PTSD. In the past, it's common that people who are suffering from PTSD get little to no support from their department and I want to make sure we're not doing that. If someone's suffering, we need to be there to support them so they can move on. When striking down hard on employees because of bad behavior that stems from depression or PTSD, that pushes them further downhill. Instead, we need to take a step back and see why a member is acting out and get them the help we need before resorting to disciplinary action.
 

Los Santos News thanks the Fire Department Media Relations and the Fire Chief for sitting down with us. 

 

Further Reading 
LSFD website
LSFD Photos (Ran by Freddy Mellet) 

lsnn.gta.world

[eden ღ]

Username: FreddyMellet

Comment: Was a pleasure as always Callie, keep up the good work!

[Justitiae]

Username: C. Grosvenor

Comment: Congratulations on becoming the new Fire Chief, wish you all the best in your new occupation!

[NexusExodus]

Username: O.Halford
Comment: Great to see an innovative individual at the helm, congratulations.