Tulsa firefighters take city councilors on a run to show how slow response times can be in east Tulsa.
Councilors were split among Tulsa’s three easternmost fire stations and rode to a mock fire call near the city limits at 31st Street.
Chief Ray Driskell said the drive itself takes up to eight minutes. The national response standard is six.
"You take into account the first minute is for the 911 call, the second minute is for that call to be dispatched to the fire station, so it really only gives us four minutes to respond," Driskell said. "And so when you get in a situation, long distance like this, it'll be seven, eight minutes before we get there, and that's too long."
There’s money to build a fire station further east in the city. Driskell said without public safety funding such as that proposed by Mayor Dewey Bartlett, however, there won’t be firefighters to staff it.
"Right now, we would just build a new station, not have anyone to put in it," Driskell said. "We would use some of that money to actually fill up that station, in addition to other stations around the city to backfill as well."
Every department that may benefit from public safety funding has reported to the council.
