Tiff City Spans Two States And Three Counties
Terry Renner has held the title of Tiff City Fire Chief for four years. He and a crew of eight volunteers work tirelessly to cover a 40-squaremile territory that spans two states and three counties.
Tiff City is situated on the border of Oklahoma and Missouri, north of Southwest City and west of Anderson. The department’s coverage area spans south from the community of Hart to west into Delaware and Ottawa counties in Oklahoma.
The property where Station 1 is located sits in both states.
Renner said this split territory can be beneficial when seeking grant funds, but it proves difficult in other aspects.
The department collects tax revenue in Delaware County and relies on residents to pay membership dues in the other two districts.
Radio coverage is also challenging because each county broadcasts information on a different bandwidths, so communications is subsequently tripled at the station.
Renner said the department responded to 145 service calls last year — 22 of which were grass/structure fires or motor vehicle accidents. The remainder were calls for medical aid.
Volunteers worked overtime during April flooding, when three bridges leading into and out of town were deemed impassable.
“School was closed for three days and the Elk River bridge (south of town) was closed for more than a week,” said Assistant Chief Richard Huston.
Between two stations, Tiff City has one engine, two tankers, three brush trucks, a rescue vehicle and 13,000 gallons of collective water storage.
Water storage is vital to fire safety in town because there are no fire hydrants. Firefighters rely on the tankers’ storage and pull water from the numerous creeks in the area when the time comes to refill.
Renner said he would like to see the department acquire new gear and an additional engine in the coming year. For now, the department is focusing on regular in-house and district training.