- Robert Sterrett was sworn in as Farmington Fire Chief during a meeting of Farmington City Council on Aug. 24.
- Sterrett has been with the fire department for approximately 16 years and worked briefly in a department in a suburb outside of Fort Worth, Texas.
- “Our call volume is growing ridiculously,” said Sterrett.
FARMINGTON – The Farmington Fire Department’s new chief fire officer is keen to see what he calls the “well-trained” agency and get the on-site training going again.
Robert Sterrett was sworn in as Farmington Fire Chief during a meeting of Farmington City Council on Aug. 24.
Sterrett, the former assistant fire chief, has been with former chief David Burke’s retirement on Jan.
The new fire chief spoke to The Daily Times about his time at Farmington Fire and his short- and long-term goals with the agency.
Sterrett has been with the fire department for approximately 16 years and worked briefly in a department in a suburb outside of Fort Worth, Texas.
He started out as a firefighter and worked his way up in positions such as engineer, Lt. Captain, Battalion Chief and Support Services Chief high.
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Sterrett said the title of fire chief does not seem attainable for some firefighters.
Sterrett said he believes he brings extensive experience to the position.
He said he didn’t want to take the work of previous administrators, but Sterrett said he felt they had an interruption because they weren’t in the field or on the line.
“I think I’ll actually make a change in the organization and help it grow to keep the community safe,” said Sterrett.
Speaking of the firefighters, the fire chief said he felt very well educated but hoped to increase the number of outside training sessions over some of the online training courses they have attended since the COVID-19 pandemic began.
“Our training is actually really good; we have to keep it going. And we’ve lost sight of that perspective, ”said Sterrett.
For the future, Sterrett sees an increasing number of calls for the fire department as the greatest challenge in the long term, with medical calls making up the majority of calls.
“Our call volume is growing ridiculously,” said Sterrett.
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The new fire chief said that while the Alternative Response Unit is helping to handle a large number of medical calls that firefighters have handled, the number of calls that firefighters are handling is higher than when the program began.
The ARU teams consist of an ambulance and a driver who uses a repurposed red Apple Transit bus to respond to calls, including those who are drunk.
He hopes that public education, including efforts around Fire Prevention Month in October and Emergency Preparedness Month in September, can provide the public with the information they need.
Joshua Kellogg reports on breaking news for the Daily Times. He can be reached at 505-564-4627 or by email at [email protected].
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