Kirk Sohl has been appointed to the position of Fire Chief by the Mounds Board Of trustees. Sohl, who has been a member of the Mounds Volunteer Fire Department for over 15 years, and has most recently served as Assistant Chief, replaced Jim Danforth who retired earlier this Spring.
The new Chief says his day jobs include being a Cattleman and an instructor at Green Country Technology Center in Okmulgee, where he teaches business and industry courses as well as firefighter and EMT classes.
As with many fire departments, there are members of the Mounds Fire Department who are first responders. Sohl stated he is a trained Emergency Medical Technician.
“I am licensed in the State of Oklahoma, and I am a nationally registered EMT. We have got one other guy that is a medic, and we have a couple of them who are first responder certified,” said Sohl.
Since joining the Mounds Volunteer Fire Department, Sohl has seen the department grow by over 65 percent and add several trucks and a second fire station.
He said the Mounds FD has been able to purchase much-needed equipment with the 1/6 cent County-wide sales tax fund.
“We got an engine out of the deal, and we are actually in the process of trying to get another pumper/tanker to add to the fleet because of that County Tax money…. One of the things we were lacking was some PPE (Personal Protection Equipment -also called bunker gear). We have been able to order twelve new sets of Wildland Gear with that money.”
Sohl stated one budgetary challenge would be replacing the SCBAs (Self Contained Breathing Apparatus). “It is going to be a very, very large expense, as much as a new house.”
When asked what his plans were for the Mounds Fire Department, he replied:
To get more training for the guys so that we can utilize ourselves better to the Community. That is my number one goal or vision, to put more training back into the station.” He added that he would like the department to be a paid department.
Sohl concluded the interview by saying; “my goals are whatever we can do to make the department better for the citizens in the town.”
