1985 - 1990

Headquarters was moved to the Logistic Center at 1205 Dart Street. The vacated space on the third floor at Fire Station No. 1 was taken over by Fire Prevention and EMS.

In January, 1986, fire dispatchers began answering calls through the new 9-1-1 system.

The first of the unpopular changes came about in April. Six of the 22 fire districts were eliminated, and four quadrants were established. Deputy chiefs were moved out of headquarters to command the new quadrants, and reported directly to the fire chief. Also the photography section and Street Index were closed down. Arson investigators now had to take their own pictures.

An even more unpopular change that upset chief officers was the elimination of their aides. The aides were transferred to fire apparatus. Chiefs would have to drive themselves. If they needed an aide at a fire, they grabbed one of the firefighters on the scene.

The largest acquisition of apparatus in the department's history took place in 1986. Twenty-two engines, 16 ladders, and 30 ambulances were purchased.

State law was changed to permit the appointment of assistant chiefs by the fire chief. Before, assistant chiefs were promoted by competitive exam. Chief Clayton picked six assistant chiefs from among applicants vying for the new positions.

The basic command procedure at fires was refined. The refined procedure established incident command at all stages of a fire, and called for two systematic searches of every building fire. There had always been procedures for multiple-alarm fires, at least back to the early '70s. These were revised periodically over the years, but the procedures were never enforced. Chief Clayton enforced his new procedures, and chaos at multiple-alarm fires began to fade.

In 1987, mobile automatic status terminals (MAST) were installed on all fire and EMS units. The terminals ended the excessive radio transmissions on the fire frequency. A button on the MAST was pressed by the officer to report his status, which was recorded in the dispatch computer.

American Rice mill at 3000 Butler went up in flames on January 14, 1988. The spectacular four-alarm fire attracted onlookers from miles around. The mill had been vacant for some time.

On February 9, 1989, a three-alarm fire in a high rise building at 1200 Smith forced its closure for several months to clean up asbestos contamination. The fire had spread the contamination throughout the structure.

Dozens of units were destroyed at the Sheffield Square Apartments, 14814 Perthshire, on August 4, 1989. The four-alarm, three-tap fire spread rapidly across wood-shingled roofs. It was the largest fire involving wood roofs since the Woodway Square conflagration a decade ago.