OKLAHOMA CITY – The interim fire chief at Altus has settled into his new role and seems to be quite content.
“I used to answer 9-1-1 calls, but now I do administrative stuff and head off problems,” said Joe Buchanan, who became the department’s interim fire chief on July 5 for a 90-day trial period. “My life’s blood is to listen to the alarms and go help the citizens,” he said. However, “I can see I’m making a difference in this role and I’m interested in staying.”
Buchanan was promoted by City Manager Janice Cain to restore stability in the Altus Fire and Rescue Department, which had been in turmoil for months. The city’s 32 professional firefighters unanimously supported a “no confidence” vote in February against then, Fire Chief Kyle Davis, who moved to Altus from Frederick about three years ago.
In an “executive summary” released publicly on June 14, the firefighters accused Davis of behavior that created “toxic working conditions,” specifically “abuse of power” and “no regard for safety.” Davis retired less than a month later. Buchanan said that when Cain approached him about the interim chief’s job, “We’d had a rough go of it for a while, so I stepped up to help the department. It was the right thing to do.” The Altus native has been a member of the Altus Fire Department for 30 years. “He’s very well respected” by his department colleagues, Mayor Jack Smiley told KSWO-TV.
Neither the city manager nor the city council has indicated whether Buchanan will be asked to accept the chief’s mantle permanently, “And I haven’t asked,” he said on Aug. 14. “Right now, I’ve got the best of both worlds. I can try it, and if I don’t want to continue, I can go back to my old job as a battalion chief.”