Denison Fire Rescue said Aug. 27 that Fire Chief Kenneth Jacks plans to retire on Oct. 23, a leadership change at a full-time paid fire and EMS department with 82 certified fire-protection personnel. For Gainesville and Cooke County readers, the move offers a nearby look at how another Texoma city is handling fire-rescue growth, station work and emergency vehicles.
Denison's Fire Rescue page identifies Jacks as fire chief. The city's official fire-chief history says he took the post on Jan. 3, 2022, after Gregg Loyd, whose time as chief ran from April 1, 2016, to Oct. 8, 2021.
The city describes Denison Fire Rescue as a full-time paid department staffed with firefighter-paramedics and firefighter-EMTs. According to the same city page, the department operates engines, advanced life-support ambulances, brush trucks, rescue boats and technical rescue equipment.
State and local records place Denison between two nearby comparison points. The Texas Commission on Fire Protection's fire-departments-by-size report lists Denison Fire Department with 82 certified fire-protection personnel and Sherman Fire Department with 94. Sherman Fire-Rescue's operations page says it runs four stations. Gainesville Fire-Rescue's city page says Gainesville responds from three stations with 45 paid personnel.
Denison budget records show the chief's exit is coming during a period of heavier fire-rescue spending than the city reported several years earlier. The proposed FY2026-2027 budget lists Denison Fire Rescue at just under $11 million, above the FY2026 estimate. The amended FY2025-2026 budget shows the department's spending had risen from the city's 2024 actual total.
The proposed general fund budget also lists revenue tied directly to fire and EMS county services and ambulance service. Denison's FY2026 comprehensive fee schedule sets no charge for the first two false-fire-alarm responses at the same address within 12 months, then adds a charge after that; the same schedule lists base ambulance rates by service level.
City purchasing and council records show the department's work extends beyond the operating budget. A 2025 request for qualifications for Fire Station No. 4 construction and Fire Station No. 1 remodeling named Jacks, as fire chief, as the project manager. The City Council's resolutions archive shows financing approvals in June and August 2026 for a Pierce aerial ladder truck, an ambulance, brush trucks and emergency vehicle outfitting.
The same resolutions archive shows Denison authorized the Preston Harbor Public Improvement District in January 2025 and approved a service and assessment plan and assessment rolls for that district on Aug. 6, 2026.
National labor data gives the retirement a wider staffing backdrop. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects modest firefighter employment growth through 2035 and says many openings are expected when workers leave the labor force, including retirements. The U.S. Fire Administration's registry summary says career firefighters make up about a third of active firefighting personnel nationally; Denison's city page classifies its department as full-time paid.
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