Government
BY COLE GEE
Meet the Fire Chiefs Association president, Raymond Flannelly On Jan. 8, Raymond Flannelly was o cially elected as president of the Montgomery County Fire Chiefs Association. A 45-year veteran of the force, Flannelly has served the county as re chief of Montgomery County Emergency Services District No. 9 for the last 16 years. The following interview has been edited for length and clarity. What are your responsibilities as president of the Fire Chiefs Association? Really, it’s just to keep each re department, there’s 12 re departments in Montgomery County, ... keep them informed of what we’re doing, any future growth, training options, anything that better prepares us to assist the citizens that reside in Montgomery County or traveling through Montgomery County. You’ve been a part of the re ghting world for around 45 years, going up to now. How’s it changed since you rst started? It’s changed tremendously, and the change is for the better. The remen in the beginning of time didn’t worry about things like cancer or mental health, and that’s the biggest change. Take a re coat, for example. A bunker coat that a re ghter puts on has a life expectancy of 10 years. And every year, that coat has to be tested by a third- party tester, and it has to pass inspection. Until recently, we never cared about the person wearing that coat. How messed up is that? ... Now we have things in place to protect the re ghters’ longevity. Cancer is running crazy in the re service. ... I’m thankful that we’re nally realizing mental health and cancer prevention are things that are important again for the longevity of these re ghters. What are some of the bigger challenges re departments in Montgomery County face right now? Growth and nancing, Montgomery County is growing so fast that each department in the county has a hard time keeping up. ... To build a station nowadays is roughly about $5 million on the low end, and they don’t have to plan for that. ... So a re chief has to always think about tomor- row; planning is a huge part of what’s going on in the re service in Montgomery County.
Raymond Flannelly was named the new Montgomery County Fire Chiefs Association president in January.
COURTESY RAYMOND FLANNELLY
health, cancer screening, physicals and take care of yourself. How do you balance representing multiple departments that may have di erent needs or priorities? Really, there's not much to balance. I know each re chief in this county personally, and they don't need to be balanced. They are truly committed to their organization and the communities they protect. We just bounce ideas o each other and try to make it for a better tomorrow. What legacy would you like to leave as president of the association and as a re ghter in general? I would like the public to realize what goes into being a re ghter today. There's a lot of training, a lot of man-hours, a lot of time away from your family. It's not like in the old days, you show up, and you sit around; there's none of that anymore. When these guys and girls come to work, they're all in for either 24 or 48 hours, whatever shift they're assigned. They're there to take care of the cus- tomer. Eating at a re station, that's just a bene t; working out, that's just a bene t. The only reason they're here is to answer the call.
Is there a moment in your career that most shaped the kind of leader you are today? A moment, no, but I’ve been very blessed to work around very talented o cers. I picked and chose from each o cer what I felt would be a ben- e t to me and my leadership style. I’ve always led by example, 35 years as a company o cer in the city of Houston, the third-largest re department in the United States. Are there any initiatives you hope to implement as Fire Chief Association president? I would like to see us train together more. It’s 12 di erent re departments, and your homeowner’s insurance is based on an ISO score. An ISO score has many elements to help maintain an a ordable home insurance policy on your house. Well, when we train with our neighbors, you get points for that to help reduce your homeowner’s insurance. So I’d like to see more interlocal training, which has really started to gear up over the last couple of months. ... The great thing about the re service in Montgomery County is if my department is tied up on an incident, our neighbors will come in and just assume the role as if it were their incident, and that’s pretty signi cant. What would you say to a young person considering a career in re ghting today? I would suggest education. ... Degrees are important. Certi cations are important, but more importantly, your physical shape and use [of] the programs that are available to you. Mental
This interview has been edited for length and clarity. For a longer version, visit communityimpact.com .
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