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The
idea of a Parker Fire Dept. was conceived in 1982.
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During that year the City of Plano informed the City of Parker that
they would shift from a cost "per call" based system to an annual fixed fee
system.
Parker citizen, Lou Matteson, rose to the challenge
and volunteered his assistance in establishing an alternative to Plano's fire
protection.
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After a town hall meeting in January 1982, the City Council voted to
fund the establishment of the City of Parker Volunteer Fire Department. At
the beginning of the following year, thirty-three people volunteered to become
firemen.
During the spring of 1983 the volunteers built a fire station and bought a fire
engine and necessary equipment. Each fireman trained extensively.
The Parker Volunteer Fire Department began answering calls in May 1983.
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Since 1983 the Parker Fire Department has added a four
bay 3,600 square foot firehouse. Under the leadership of
Fire Chief Larry McMenamy, a second fire engine was added in
2003 along with a new brush truck in 2004. Our Fire
Department maintains up to date equipment including, Self
Contained Breathing Apparatus, quality bunker gear, rescue
tools (Jaws of Life), defibrillators and two thermal imaging
cameras. In July, 2005 the Fire Department completed the
construction of an additional 500 sq. feet to expand our
training room and enclosed storage capacity. It is worthy
of note that much of our fire equipment and supplies are
purchased with donated funds from citizens within the
community and from our annual Fire Department fund raiser.
September 2005 marked the end of an era with the
retirement of Chief McMenamy. After 23 years of service, Chief
McMenamy will be missed as he was a foundation of the original Parker
Volunteer Fire Department. Assistant Chief, Mike Sheff, took the
position of Chief and will continue Larry's legacy into the future.
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In January 2006 we added an
additional vehicle to be used as an incident command
vehicle.
Presently, Parker has
24-hour dispatch service contracted through the City of
Plano and Emergency Medical Services contracted through
East Texas Medical
Center operating out of the City of Wylie Fire Stations.
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