After holding the position for about 4 ½ years, City of Houston Fire Department Chief Joey Moore will step down at the end of this year.
Moore said his full-time job as a probation and parole officer and sizable cattle farm operation have made it impossible for him to adequately focus on being fire chief.
“It’s just a lack of time,” he said.
Moore has been a probation and parole officer for 20 years, and he and his wife, Julie, purchased his grandparents’ farm about two years ago.
“It’s just time for me to step down and let somebody else take over,” Moore said. “I’ve also recommended that the city make fire chief a full-time position. We met with them this week, but we’re still at the beginning stages of that.
“But it’s needed.”
Moore said the idea of having a paid chief isn’t brand new.
“In 2010, we had a three, five and seven-year plan,” he said. “In that seventh year was the full-time position. We’re at the point where the position requires someone full-time. I’ve tried to keep up with it over the past four years, but it’s impossible when you have a full-time job – even without the farm.”
Moore has recommended long-time firefighter Robbie Smith as his successor. Whoever takes the position, Moore plans to stay on with the department in some capacity after the transition.
“I’m willing to go all the way back to just being a firefighter,” he said. “But that’s up to the new chief.”
THE STATE OF THE DEPARTMENT
When Moore became city fire chief in May 2014, he hoped to secure funding for a “rotating schedule” that would allow for replacing a fire truck every 10 years or so. He proposed accomplishing that through the extension of an existing 1/8-cent retail sales tax that was created to pay for the department’s ladder truck.
{{tncms-inline alignment=”right” content=”<p>“Bigger departments with lots of trucks aren’t hurt as bad if one goes down, but when you only have two and you lose one, you’re down 50-percent of your fleet.”</p> <p><strong>JOEY MOORE</strong></p>” id=”2d6a92b0-fa2f-43c2-beaf-619b400275f8″ style-type=”quote” title=”JOEY QUOTE” type=”relcontent” width=”half”}}
“The idea was presented to the previous city administrator, and that’s as far as it went,” Moore said. “I was told ‘no’ and that they were going to let it sunshine out after its 10 years.”
Also back in 2010, the department showed in its extended plan that a new pumper truck would be needed by 2017.
“We’re already past that point,” Moore said, “and we have a truck sitting in Cabool with an unknown time frame for when it will be fixed.”
Moore said the broken down 1994 pumper – which has been out of service for about two months – has problems with its computer system and pump as well as other issues.
“Twice we barely got it back to the station, and the second time we parked it,” he said.
Moore said the remedy for the truck’s ailment can’t be applied quickly.
“The computer itself has to be built from scratch,” he said. “They don’t keep them on the shelf because once it’s built it has a time ticking away on it. And once the computer is installed, that might not fix things, but at least we can start reading codes to chase down the problem – which we’re pretty sure is in the electrical system.
“The lifespan on those trucks is about 15 to 20 years, and we’re well past the 20-year mark on it. It’s lived its life and we’re recommended that we look for another used truck to replace it, and sell that one as soon as it’s fixed.”
Acquiring another truck presents another set of challenges, Moore said.
“The problem is, whenever a good used truck becomes available, it’s gone immediately,” he said. “We’re at the point that we need approval from the city council that if we find a truck we can jump on it.
“Bigger departments with lots of trucks aren’t hurt as bad if one goes down, but when you only have two and you lose one, you’re down 50-percent of your fleet.”
A truck isn’t the only thing on the list of needs, Moore said.
“We also have airpacks that will go out of date this coming year,” he said, “and that’s something that will have to be replaced. It becomes a liability, because officials won’t even test them when they’re out of date.”
As is virtually always the case with volunteer fire departments, Houston’s city department would benefit from additional personnel, Moore said.
“We’ve actually lost some people recently,” he said. “We do have some new people, and we need to get them trained. That’s a priority for the first part of 2019.”
The good news, Moore said, is that current city government understands the situation.
“The things we’re trying to get done now should have been budgeted for the last 10 years and now we’re having to play catch-up,” he said. “But we have a good city administrator and a good city council who are supportive and know the needs and are working on trying to fix it.
“And we’re not the only department in the city having to play catch-up.”
Moore said the proximity of the Houston Rural Fire Department’s downtown station and that department’s willingness to assist has been crucial of late.
“We’re very blessed to have them right down the road,” he said, “but helping us puts them in a bind if they have a call at the same time – which thankfully hasn’t happened very often.”
As he negotiates the final months of his tenure as City of Houston fire chief, Moore more or less sees a department at a crossroads.
“I’ve enjoyed this, but it’s time for some new blood,” he said. “We need a lot of improvements right now; we need firefighters, training, equipment and trucks. And I really hope the position becomes full time, because I think that would be a big step in taking this department to the next level.”
“Bigger departments with lots of trucks aren’t hurt as bad if one goes down, but when you only have two and you lose one, you’re down 50-percent of your fleet.”
JOEY MOORE