Denison directory lists Cheyenne Henderson as fire chief; city records show a fourth station planned
City records show Denison planning a fourth fire station and authorizing additional firefighter positions, but they do not confirm an interim appointment, a start date or the family history attributed to Henderson.
Denison's official staff directory lists Cheyenne Henderson as fire chief. City records also show the department planning a fourth station and authorizing more firefighters, though none of them establish what role Henderson has had in either effort.
The directory does not say whether Henderson's appointment is interim, and it gives no start date. His individual city profile says nothing about a family history in firefighting. No primary source located for this report confirms that such a history shaped his connection to Denison Fire Rescue, so that claim is unverified.
The Texas A&M Forest Service identifies Denison's department as a Grayson County department. Its profile, verified Aug. 31, 2026, lists 75 paid personnel and eight paid administrative or staff employees, 83 in all.
On March 11, 2025, the city advertised for architectural services to design a fourth fire station and remodel Station 1, with submissions due April 8, 2025, according to its bid notice. The solicitation describes renovating an existing 12,000-square-foot station. It lists four drive-through apparatus bays, exhaust ventilation and storage for special-team and dive-team equipment among the expected features of Station 4.
On Jan. 20, 2026, Ordinance 5426 added 21 firefighters to the department's authorized force, according to the city's ordinance archive. Authorization alone does not show that every position has been filled.
Added to Denison's authorized fire force by Ordinance 5426
Dated Jan. 20, 2026. Authorization alone does not establish that every position was filled.
The department's strategic plan places Station 4 in Preston Harbor and discusses possible additional stations and a move for Station 2. It projects nearly 18,000 more Preston Harbor residents and as many as 25,000 people present at a time. The plan presents those numbers as planning projections, not measured counts.
Council records in the same archive show approval of financing terms for a 105-foot Pierce aerial ladder truck on June 15, 2026. On Aug. 3, 2026, the council approved financing for an ambulance, two brush trucks and emergency-vehicle outfitting.
Denison describes its department as fully paid. Firefighter-paramedics and firefighter-EMTs are cross-trained for fire suppression, emergency medical response and fire prevention, and the equipment includes advanced-life-support ambulances, engines, brush trucks and rescue boats.
The city's list of fire chiefs dates Kenneth Jacks's start as chief to Jan. 3, 2022. His predecessor, Gregg Loyd, served from April 1, 2016, through Oct. 8, 2021.
Gainesville Fire-Rescue reports 45 paid personnel at three stations and a Class 2 ISO Public Protection Classification. Gainesville's proposed fiscal 2026 budget lists 42 fire-operations positions in each year from 2022 through 2024, 43 budgeted for 2025 and 45 proposed for 2026. The proposed increase includes one firefighter and one administrative or emergency-management position.
Gainesville's fire staffing held flat for three years, then inched up
The chart loads when visible. All values are in the table.
City of Gainesville proposed fiscal 2026 budget (gainesville.tx.us/DocumentCenter/View/11884)
Proposed, not yet adopted
View as a table
| Year | Fire-operations positions |
|---|---|
| 2022 | 42 positions |
| 2023 | 42 positions |
| 2024 | 42 positions |
| 2025 | 43 positions |
| 2026 | 45 positions |
Sherman Fire-Rescue reports four stations, 93 certified firefighters and about 8,600 service calls a year. It categorizes roughly 70% of those calls as medical, 20% as fire-related and 10% as other.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects firefighter employment to grow 4% from 2025 to 2035, with about 26,800 openings a year. Many of those openings are expected to replace workers who change occupations or leave the workforce, including retirees. The figures cover firefighters generally, not fire chiefs.
A city resolution dated Sept. 21, 2026, recognized a Class 1 Public Protection Classification for Denison, effective Jan. 1, 2024, according to the archive.
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