HIGHLAND VILLAGE — When Highland Village’s then-Fire Chief Jason Collier was arrested on a charge of soliciting prostitution in June, the city was suddenly left with an unprecedented administrative predicament.
That was a first in City Manager Paul Stevens’ 30-year career, he said. In response, the city placed Collier on administrative leave the day he was arrested, June 13. Collier resigned on June 15.
“Of course, that’s such a difficult situation for the city as a whole and for the department in particular,” Stevens said. “It was a surprise to everyone. But knowing that that occurred, that change had to be made. And Chief Collier knew that. So, we were able to take care of that quickly.”
Now one month out from that unexpected change, the Denton Record-Chronicle sat down with Stevens to discuss what’s next for the Highland Village Fire Department and the hunt for a new chief.
Assistant Fire Chief Kevin Gosselin began serving as interim chief. He’d been at the department for about six weeks before taking on the interim role but has 26 years of service experience.
A wealth of experience in Gosselin and the fire captains meant the department wasn’t left high and dry amid Collier’s exit, Stevens said.
“Even though the department is young with regard to the firefighters, we have captains that have been there for a long time,” Stevens said. “They provide just a tremendous level of leadership and guidance. We’re fortunate in that respect.”
Stevens met with the department soon after the arrest. He said the firefighters and executive staff assured him it was business as usual.
“We really tried to make sure that the morale of the department was good, that this wasn’t a distraction, to try to put it behind us and move forward,” Stevens said. “Because, really, it’s an exciting time for the Fire Department with the things we’re doing.”
To keep that momentum going, Stevens said the city is moving quickly to select a permanent fire chief.
The city is advertising for the position now and hopes to conduct interviews in early August.
“We’re receiving a decent amount of resumes,” Stevens said. “Some very well-qualified candidates are applying. So, we’re excited about that.”
Three panels will vet the fire chief candidates. One panel will include Stevens, Mayor Charlotte Wilcox and Police Chief Doug Reim. Another will include the directors of various city departments. The third will include the Fire Department captains.
By the end of August, Stevens hopes to have the position filled. It goes without saying, he said, that there will be ethical requirements the city expects the next chief to uphold.
Along with that, he said they are looking for someone who can provide stability and tremendous leadership to the department during a time of restructuring.
“We’re a small department,” Stevens said. “There’s not a whole lot of room for growth moving up in the ranks. But some of the things we restructured are going to provide better opportunities for leadership.”
Historically, Highland Village has often relied on mutual aid from surrounding cities like Lewisville and Flower Mound.
Highland Village started as a volunteer fire department in 1971 and slowly added on full- and part-time employees. The department reached full staffing in 2009 supported by increased sales tax revenue.
Now, the city is working to be less reliant on mutual aid. The city identified that the majority of calls for service were medical calls between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. In 2023, it hired two 40-hours-per-week paramedics and part-time paramedics to cover this daytime “power shift.”
This differs from the A, B and C shift firefighters who work in a 48-hours on-shift and 96-hours off-shift cycle.
“With this program our mutual aid has gone way down,” Stevens said. “In fact, we’re giving more mutual aid now than we’re receiving.”
The city is looking to increase staff more. The proposal is to move the two 40-hours-per-week power shift paramedics and hire one more to each cover the A, B and C shifts.
That will give the department one more employee per shift. The city will still utilize part-time firefighters.
“In the fire service and especially a department as small as this, there’s always people on vacations, sick leave, something,” Stevens said. “You want to make sure you have as many people as possible.”
The current staffing organization means that if one firefighter is off for the day, it would impact the department’s ability to staff all of its vehicles. That could mean relying on mutual aid.
With the proposed staffing change, the department could fully staff one fire engine with three personnel, one ambulance with two personnel, and either one brush truck or an additional second ambulance with two personnel.
Under the proposed change of one more person per shift, Stevens said the department could have all of the trucks and ambulances fully staffed even if one person is off for a day. The change would allow for a part-timer to help ensure a brush truck or second ambulance can always be staffed with two personnel.
In-house service is generally going to have faster response times to emergencies than mutual-aid partners.
“That really helps us get the coverage we need during the day and a little less reliance on mutual aid,” Stevens said. “Of course, in EMS, timing is everything. If it’s a stroke or heart attack, you have to get there quickly and take care of that patient. So, it really gives our citizens that much more security.”
Despite the sudden fire chief vacancy, Stevens said the department is probably in the best shape it has been in a long time.