Howe to establish full-time fire department

HOWE, Texas (KTEN) — A full-time fire department is coming to the fast-growing City of Howe.

The city council made the decision to hire a chief and paid firefighters to serve the community of 3,600 located just south of Sherman.

The volunteer department has been serving Howe since 1951. There are currently 15 firefighters on the roster.

Chief Robert Maniet is eager for the new department to increase in size and availability.

"This is a huge step for us," he said. "Moving forward with this, we'll have six full-time people along with a fire chief that we can keep our staff up and have more response time availability."

Even with the addition of a permanent department, volunteer firefighters will continue to serve the city.

The city's new fire station is looking to hire three emergency medical technicians, three paramedics, and a chief. Operations are on track to start in January.