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HISTORY

A Brief History of

Carlyss Fire Department

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Beginnings

The department was started through the Carlyss Lions Club. On December 4, 1974, the Police Jury passed a resolution creating the Fire District. On May 7, 1975, the Police Jury accepted the results of a bond and millage election for the Fire District. The main station, located on Volunteer Road, sits on land purchased from the Lions Club on March 3, 1976. In August 1976, approximately three months before the main station was built, the department received its first truck, a one ton four wheel drive Dodge Pierce Mini Pumper with a 300 gpm pump and a 250 gl tank. In November 1976, approximately 2 weeks after the station was built, the department received two additional trucks that had 250 gpm pumps and 1500 gl tanks. In 1977, RS 40:1496.1 was passed in the Louisiana Legislature creating the Board of Commissioners for the Fire District. On September 7, 1977, the Calcasieu Parish Police Jury appointed the first Board of Commissioners. In the early days, volunteers were contacted by phone. One person would receive the call then call another person. Then those two would call two more, those four would call four. This would continue until everyone in the department was contacted.

Dispatching

The Carlyss Fire Department was initially dispatched by the Sulphur Police Department. One volunteer would receive the call then call another volunteer. Then those two would call two more, those four would call four. This would continue until everyone in the department was contacted. Later, the West Calcasieu Substation of the Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s Office took over dispatching. Currently, Carlyss is dispatched by the Calcasieu Parish E911 system. 

Calls

New In 1976, the department had 8 calls of which 4 were structure calls. In 1977, there were 70 calls. The department has gone from a low of 66 in 1992 to a high of 176 in 1996 & 1997 before starting to run limited Emergency Medical Services (EMS) calls in 1998 (wrecks with injuries and "life threatening" situations). In 1998, the department had 365 calls of which 178 or 49% were EMS. Since then the highest number of calls were 974 in 2006. In 2008, there were 778 calls. In1984, the voters passed a 1.5 million dollar bond. Those funds were used to build current substation at Southland Field airport and add on to the existing station on Volunteer Road. Two new pumpers were added to the fleet: a 750-gpm pump with a 1500-gallon tank and a 1000-gpm pump with a 1000-gallon tank. $1.2 million of the bond was used to upgrade water line to 6" or larger and place fire hydrants throughout the district. Initially, the district had about 174 fire hydrants. As of January 2012, there are 394 hydrants.

Currently

The Carlyss Fire Department has 25 personnel that include: a full-time Fire Chief, Chief of Administration, Secretary to the Fire Chief, Training Officer, six captains (two per shift, one per station, that work twenty-four-hour days), fifteen firefighter/operators (five per shift working twenty-four-hour days), and three paid-on-call firefighters that respond to emergencies. All firefighters are required to become Firefighter I certified by FETA. They will continue their training through training sessions on the first Tuesday and the second and fourth Mondays of the month. Our full-time personnel are required to be medical First Responders and some of them are Emergency Medical Technicians (EMT). The Carlyss Fire Department is a member of the Southwest Louisiana Mutual Aid and other organizations. The mutual aid association is composed of industrial and municipal fire departments, industries, police, EMS, municipalities, and other emergency service organization in the five-parish area that assist each other in times of emergency. 

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Ward 4 FPD 2 Fire Board of Commissioners

The Fire District and Board of Commissioners was created by Louisiana Revised Statute 40:1496.1 which states:

Calcasieu Parish Ward Four Fire Protection District No. 2 – Notwithstanding the provisions of R.S. 40:1496, a board of commissioners of the Ward Four Fire Protection District Number Two is hereby created. The board of commissioners shall perform all duties, functions and powers provided in this Part as well as responsibility for the operation and maintenance of the district, and shall receive compensation as provided by R.S. 40:1498. The board shall consist of five members appointed by the governing authority for the parish of Calcasieu, and each member shall be a resident and elector of the parish of Calcasieu and shall serve on such board at the pleasure of the governing authority of the parish of Calcasieu.

The Fire District is an independent taxing authority. It is governed by a five-member board of commissioners that is appointed by the Calcasieu Police Jury for three year terms. The Fire Chief reports directly to and makes recommendations to the Board of Commissioners. The Board’s regular meetings are on the second Wednesday of each month at 6:00 p.m. at Station One located at 5151 Volunteer Road.