Bank highlights work, effort by police, fire departments
Pilot Point Fire Chief Heath Hudson joined the Pilot Point business community during PointBank’s February Business Breakfast to give an update on the departm ent.
He opened with some stats before moving onto other points. Among them were the department’s new ladder truck and an upcoming fundraiser.
“In 2024, we ran 1,349 calls in our fire district,” Hudson said. “We were up about 30-40 calls from the year before which has been our trend over the past few years. Thirty-seven percent of that is fire calls, [and] 63% EMS. We logged over 700 hours of training for our individuals from live fire training to parametric certifications.”
He took a moment to defend the need for the department’s new 107-foot ladder truck, explaining it’s not for high rises but rather for multistory buildings and to give the department another direction of attack and rescue when dealing with structure fires.
“It provides elevated water streets to combat fires in multistory buildings, warehouses and large structures,” Hudson said, using the proliferation of cabinet shops in town as an example. “Guess what’s in them, a lot of fire load. It helps control fires from above, preventing the spread to adjacent buildings.”
His final testament to the truck’s value came not in fighting fires but in the insurance benefits the department’s access to said equipment provides.
“The Insurance Services Organization sets your rating and determines how much you pay for homeowner’s insurance or insurance on your business,” Hudson said. “They come in and evaluate us … and determine a numerical grading called the Public Protection Class.”
Hudson explained Pilot Point is currently graded at a 4, a stat he said can be remedied the next time the department asks for an audit.
“Between water improvements, the ladder truck, doubling our staffing, opening that station and our response times being cut down, Chief [Bryan] Cox and I feel extremely confident we will take that to a 2,” Hudson said. “A lot of departments in our area have gained a 1 in the last five years, but you have to have your own training facility to get there.”
He then shifted gears to talk about Restore the Rig, an upcoming fundraiser the department will put on to help restore one of the department’s first trucks.
“In 2010-11, Chief Cox and I started trying to locate an old City of Pilot Point fire truck to try to restore it for parades and special events,” Hudson said. “We wanted something that belonged to us before.”
They finally found one in Mountain Springs.
“It was purchased 40 years ago, driven there, parked in that pasture and never moved again,” Hudson said. “This truck was brand new to the city of Pilot Point in 1942.
Hudson shared that many of the original accessories, including the windows, ladder and fire extinguishers are still on it.
“There was a big bell that sat right behind the cab,” Hudson said. “I made a comment to Chief Cox saying how cool it would be if that bell had still been on there. He goes, ‘I like that bell. It’s in the living room.’ Years ago, they’d redone that bell and put it on a stand in the day room, the original bell off that truck.”
The American Legion will host the event on March 22 to include a live auction and outside donations to get the rig restored and running.
“We’re going to try to have the truck out there,” Hudson said. “We’re getting the wheels replaced right now, and we’re going to try to have it out there on a trailer sitting at the Legion.”
