By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
Doug Hubbard made a career out of being a first responder. He spent nearly a decade as an EMS director and assistant fire chief. He spent time as a 911 director at Barton County Communications. But since 2001, Hubbard has served as the fire chief in Claflin. That role comes to an end on Jan. 1 as he steps into retirement. Hubbard said the job has always been about the people around him.
"We have a lot of good people on the fire department," he said. "It all starts with training. I don't have to make those decisions right there on the spot. We're trained and we have protocols we go by so it works pretty smoothly now days."
In August, Hubbard went before the Barton County Commission to discuss the purchase of self-contained air packs for Fire District No. 1. Before announcing his retirement at Thursday's meeting, Hubbard announced the department had received a $16,000 grant from the Kansas State Fire Marshall's Office. With that grant, and $20,000 already budgeted for the purchase, he expects that purchase to come before the commission in 2024.
Kyle Smith, who has worked on the Claflin Fire Department since 1986, will take over as chief. Hubbard said it may be difficult to stay out of the fire department, and he will likely remain involved with transport services.