Since beginning as a one-truck, volunteer-run department in 1924, the Shawnee Fire Department has lived by the philosophy of always evolving and adapting — whether it’s during an escalating emergency or expanding to meet the needs of a growing city.
“To look at where we came, from an all-volunteer (group) to a combination department…I mean, (it’s) leaps and bounds,” said Deputy Chief Corey Sands, a 27-year veteran of the department. “I can’t imagine where we’re going to go in that much time moving forward.”
As the firefighting group marks its 100th year, the department continues to change, with the opening of the expanded Fire Station 73 in April and major renovations to its headquarters, Fire Station 71, also known as the John B. Glaser building, expected to be finished in September.
The Fire Department has storied origins
The department was created in 1924 when a group of citizens put enough money together to buy a single fire truck, a 1924 Ford Model T. Its first call was on April 21, 1924, to a fire at a greenhouse.
“Volunteers were business people, they were just everyday people, farmers that just came in when the call came in. (They) would jump on a rig and go,” Fire Chief Rick Potter said.
Through the decades, the department moved from volunteers to hiring employees, starting with a fire chief in 1969 and its first paid firefighter in 1977.
It discontinued the volunteer program at the end of 2008, in favor of using full-time employees. Currently, the department employs 76 firefighters.
“It’s such a stark contrast from 2008,” Sands, a former volunteer firefighter, said. “(We were) a combination department where volunteers would come in and grab supplemental pieces of apparatus to respond to a fire. I mean, that would be so foreign to just about anybody here now.”
He added: “We pride ourselves in getting to calls in a really timely manner now. So it’s just a totally different mindset.”
The fire department emphasizes its history
As the city of Shawnee and its fire department both continue to grow, Potter has made it a requirement that every recruit learns about how the fire department started, how it’s evolved and the accomplishments and mistakes it’s made along the way.
“Remembering our history, where we came from, especially from the volunteer days, it keeps us connected to the community that we serve,” he said.
Included in its history is the death of John B. Glaser, a firefighter from the department who died in 2010 while attempting a rescue in a structure fire. To honor him, the fire department uses his namesake as their headquarters and incorporates tributes to him and the department’s history in their gear.
“It’s incredibly important,” Sands said. “(Recruits) can’t even wear a uniform without the reminder of where we’ve been.”
The fire department continues learning
While it loves and honors its history, the department doesn’t want to get too lost in nostalgia. It takes every emergency and moment in its past as a learning opportunity.
“Never since I’ve been here and certainly not since Chief Potter has been here, have we been in a period of coast,” Sands said. “It’s all about that continuous improvement.”
Potter added: “Learning from past mistakes that we’ve made throughout time, and hopefully not repeating those, that’s important.”
In 2022, a nighttime fire at a house on Silverheel Street turned into a mayday distress call, as a stairway in the structure collapsed, trapping four firefighters who later escaped with no serious injuries.
In the aftermath, a safety committee was formed in 2023 to examine how that situation could be avoided. In response, Shawnee City Council amended the city’s Municipal code to require a half-inch of sheetrock under any combustible stairway surface. Other cities like Lenexa and Olathe adopted similar building code changes.
Outreach is important for the department
Beyond saving lives and structures in the community, the department wants to continue fostering relationships with its residents and beyond.
In September, it will celebrate the 25th anniversary of its biannual firefighter exchange, where they trade three of their own firefighters with three at their sister city fire department in Erfurt, Germany. The firefighters will travel across the globe to tour the stations, do ride-alongs and get to know firefighters from a different country in a more personal way.
“It’s about not only the cultural piece, but some of the commonalities — that’s the surprising part to me,” Deputy Chief Ryan Pyle said. “It’s a really neat program that allows us to showcase not only our city, but the American fire service.”
The department wants to keep earning Shawnee’s trust
Involved in firefighting for more than 30 years, four of which have been in Shawnee, Potter said when he moved from Colorado to Kansas one of his goals was enhancing the safety of the public and the department’s firefighters.
Some of those goals have been realized with renovations to Fire Stations 71 and 73. They include better sleeping quarters, where firefighters won’t be awakened by alarms if it’s not their call. They also have systems to minimize exposure to smoke and exhaust fumes, as well as support for mental health.
“Our firefighters live here a third of their lives, so (we’re) trying to do as much as we can to take care of our staff,” he said.
In a similar way, Potter wants the public to know that the department is there for them at any time. They’ve built up 100 years of trust and want to earn it for 100 more and beyond, he said.
“At the end of the day, the end result and the objective is still the same,” he said. “It’s to rescue people. It’s trying to minimize the impacts of the injuries they receive. It’s trying to put the fires out and trying to do the least amount of damage to the structure.”
Looking back on when he joined as a volunteer in the late ’90s, Sands said he’s worked with and met so many veteran Shawnee firefighters from the earlier days of the department that have inspired him. He hopes that he can do the same.
“Those people are the foundation for where we are today and my goal in my role right now is to prepare us for the next 100 years from an operational standpoint,” he said. “We’re striving for continuous improvement.”
Other Johnson County fire news: This area of Olathe has seen 200% spike in fire calls. A new firehouse is planned there.
