It has been an honor to serve as Fire Chief for St. Tammany Fire Protection District No. 1 for the past 11 years. Over the past year, the men and women of our department have worked extremely hard to keep our citizens safe and continue to serve our residents by providing the highest level of service in the most cost effective and efficient manner. In our 73-year history, we have seen Slidell transition from a small bedroom community to a vibrant suburb of the City of New Orleans. We provide services to the community from nine fire stations and several other support facilities. The department protects approximately 110,000 citizens (estimated based on the 2020 census) in a 122 square mile area, approximately one third of the entire population of St. Tammany Parish. St. Tammany Fire Protection District No. 1 is an “All Hazards Approach” organization that responds to fires (structural, vehicle, wildland), emergency medical calls, technical rescue calls(swift water, confined space, trench, high and low angle rope), vehicle crashes, animal rescues, hazardous materials incidents, active shooter incidents, and natural and manmade disasters. We responded to 10,157 calls for service in 2024. We have been Internationally Accredited for 10 years. We were Re-accredited in March of 2025. Therefore, St. Tammany Fire Protection District No. 1 remains one of two Internationally Accredited public fire departments in the State of Louisiana and one of 326 worldwide. In addition to our Accreditation, our citizens and businesses also benefit from our Class 2 Property Insurance Association of Louisiana (PIAL) rating, which can result in lower homeowner’s insurance rates. St. Tammany Fire Protection District No. 1 continues to place additional emphasis on Community Risk Reduction (CRR) as well as the effective and efficient allocation of resources. I have instructed our department leadership to work with all staff to deliver the most effective service that will improve and promote public safety. We have empowered and challenged our members at every level, to provide the best possible service to our community. If you are out in the neighborhood, or if you see our personnel out in public, feel free to stop by and say hello. Our personnel are routinely out in public to help make you safer and are involved in many community activities. As our community continues to change, our department will also change to meet those growing needs. We repeatedly tell our citizens, “if you don’t know who to call for help, call us”. I am honored to continue the department’s commitment to provide an above average service to our citizens. St. Tammany Fire Protection District No. 1 continues to take a progressive approach to better serve our citizens. We are working hard to maintain our “Class 2” rating and we are proud to have been Reaccredited in 2025. My message to our members is simple, “serve our citizens as if they were your family members”. Thank you for the privilege to lead such an outstanding group of men and women.
Chris Kaufmann, Fire Chief