Battlefield Fire Protection District

HISTORY

History of the Battlefield Fire Protection District

The volunteer fire department was organized in Battlefield covering from Farm Road 115 on the west side to old Highway 65 on the east and Springfield to the Greene/Christian county line.  The department was supported by ham and bean suppers annually.

Late 1950’s

The first fire station was built.  It was located in Battlefield near the railroad track at the southeast side of town.

1964

A door to door campaign was launched to collect dues for the fire department, starting the dues based fire department for operational costs.

1976

A new fire station with four apparatus bays was built next to the existing fire station. The new station was known as “new Station One”.

1982

The fire department was voted into a Fire Protection District with an elected three person board.

1985

A new fire station was built on Evans Road between Springfield Lake and Highway 65.  The fire station is know as Station Two.

1986

An addition was built onto Station 1 in Battlefield for a training room and offices.  The Missouri Division of Fire Safety used one of the offices as a satellite station.

Late 1986

A third station was built at Western and Farm Road 156, Station Three, for volunteer staffing response to the growing area.

1991

Jerry Sparkman was hired as a full-time fire chief.

March 1995

The current Administration and Training center was built in Battlefield.  The building houses the administration and training component of the District.  The Division of Fire Safety moved into one of the offices from Station 1.

1998

Station Four was built on Plainview Road west of Campbell Avenue.  The fire station was staffed with the first full-time firefighters of the District covering 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

2002

A devastating tornado destroyed Station One a large amount of the City of Battlefield.  Station One was rebuilt to its new location in Battlefield replacing the two buildings destroyed.

May 2003

Voters approved an increase in tax levy to 0.3611 cents on $100 assessed evaluation.

April 2004

With the completion of the new Station One the addition of a full-time firefighters to the new station added the second staffed station for the District.

January 2005

Three Battalion Chiefs were hired to manage the full-time personnel.  One battalion chief was assigned to each shift to supervise.  The addition of the battalion chiefs brought the District’s staffing to 15 full-time firefighters, three battalion chiefs, a deputy chief, fire chief, mechanic, two maintenance personnel and a full-time administrative assistant.

2006

The voters of the District approved the addition of two new board members to change the Board of Directors from a 3 to 5 person board.

April 2009

Bryan Newberry was sworn in as fire chief.

March 2010

Jarett Metheny was sworn in as fire chief.

June 2018

Deputy Chief Scott Moore promoted to Fire Chief

October 2019

The new positions of Division Chief of Training and Division Chief of Support Services were created to manage the growing administrative demands of the District.

August 2020
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