A mid-April Bossier City Council meeting included a “resolution authorizing the restructure of fire department personnel at a cost savings of $67,324.53 due to the retirement of an administrative fire chief.”

Not the first of such “restructure” efforts by Bossier City Fire Chief Brad Zagone, this latest reduction of personnel costs was reason to visit with Zagone and Deputy Chief Steve Pennell about the department’s substantial budget reductions and savings.

We met in Zagone’s unadorned office that doesn’t much resemble what most would consider the boss’ space.

“I haven’t even decorated since I moved in here [March 2011]. I’ll tell you my day. I come in here, I answer emails, and I’m in the office maybe 30 minutes to an hour. Then I go in the back [to the fire station] to see what’s going on because I think if you lose touch with what’s going on back there, then you can’t figure out how things flow. I don’t want to lose touch with what’s going on.”

Familiarity with that “flow” has allowed Zagone and Pennell to make significant changes/reductions in the department’s administrative roster in favor of more firefighters. And while at least eight administrative positions have been eliminated, the duties performed by the positions haven’t – instead they’ve been absorbed by other members of the department.

For example, three fire safety officer positions at assistant chief’s pay were eliminated. “We have three district chiefs,” Zagone said. “But anybody on the ground can be a safety officer, so now we respond two district chiefs to a major event, and one of them we assign safety to. So that is a way of utilizing what we already have … and taking away that position gives us a way of getting positions on the bottom – firefighters.”

Other positions similarly eliminated include the assistant chief of internal affairs and assistant chief of EMS, among others. The fitness chief (assistant chief) slot was also eliminated and the duties absorbed by two firefighters from each shift who were sent to The Cooper Institute for the same training the former fitness chief received. The institute specializes in fire and law enforcement fitness standards. Zagone said the Coopertrained “line guys” do all the physical assessments of the firefighters on their respective shifts.

Measures to eliminate administrative positions weren’t the only efforts at reducing costs, Zagone said. Choosing the most effective firefighting and EMS equipment has also resulted in savings. A firefighting vehicle change at the Shady Grove Fire Station allowed for a reduction in six firefighters – but left the station with the same firefighting capability, and allowed these six firefighters to move to stations where they were needed.

Zagone and Pennell said if they were to restore eliminated positions to the personnel structure that existed before he was appointed chief, the cost to the city would be approximately $1 million (salaries, benefits, retirement).

But that’s not the limit of cost reducing changes in Bossier’s Fire Department. Union members suggested eliminating the department’s $65,000 annual laundry service – which was replaced with outfitting each fire station with washer and dryers. Firefighters do the laundry at the end of each shift. Cuts to the department’s overtime budget have resulted in an estimated $250,000 in savings over the last three years – and that allowed Zagone to add to new firefighters to the department.

“Instead of us calling in overtime [personnel], I can go ride a rescue truck, I can ride an ambulance … I pull guys out of administrative positions,” Zagone said, adding that there’s no shortage of volunteers to fill the need.

A new CNG-fueled EMS vehicle will greatly reduce fuel and maintenance costs, and plans are to add another such vehicle to the department’s fleet. And Zagone and Pennell are constantly looking for firefighting and EMS equipment that will better serve the department and save money.

The point of all of this, said Zagone and Pennell, has been to ensure the residents of Bossier continue to experience the very best in public safety with the best use of fire department resources.

It will be no surprise to see Zagone before the council in the future – saving money and maintaining an excellent fire department.