After hearing from the Fire and Police department chiefs, the Board of Directors expressed satisfaction with handling of several crises over the previous year by both departments. Fire Chief Phil Christensen opened his presentation with a history of the Fort Smith Fire Department. FSPD became a paid department in 1899 and has since grown to 11 stations. There are currently 140 uniformed employees and 4 civilians with nine uniformed openings. Christensen showed pictures of the damage and response of the May 2019 tornado and flood and pointed out that many firefighters stayed after their shifts to help fill sand bags and continue helping with flood response. In responding to the flood, Christensen stated that the city IT department was instrumental in knowing what was happening. He also shared that the engineering department was accurate in predicting where the flood waters reached within an inch.