After Chief Sparr's appointment, city manager Gene Denton listed four major reasons for his selection. Sparr was reported to have demonstrated leadership among the rank and file, possessed a college education, demonstrated a willingness to innovate, and was committed to strong management and organizational disclipine.

Chief Sparr had worked several years preparing himself for his new leadership role. One of his many activities was serving as president of the department's union (IAFF - Local 666). In that capacity, James Sparr had been instrumental in getting the department's 20-year retirement pension plan. He was also instrumental in getting the fire science program adopted at Wichita State University. As Chief, education would continue to play an important role in his administration.

Chief Sparr stepped into his office at a time when manpower levels were asked to be cut to an all-time low. Through leadership and innovation, the department would learn to operate efficiently with less resource. "Productivity" became the recognized by-word for the early '80's.

1981 showed a continual trend in manpower reductions. Total personnel had been reduced from 402 in 1980 to a total of 387 in 1981. Part of the chief's plan, to ensure fewer men could perform the same amount of work as efficiently as in the past, was to implement a mandatory physical fitness program. Better physical conditioning was a must to do the same amount of work with fewer people. Another method of ensuring better conditioning of firefighters was the implementation of a non-smoking policy for all new-hires. This was done to curb the risk of heart and lung disease so common to the occupation of firefighters.

To aid in better management of fire operations level tasks, the position of Division Chief was implemented. This level of chief would be a 24-hour fire ground commander whose purpose was to supervise large scale fires throughout the city. The division chiefs also played an active role in a more intensive pre-fire planning program to streamline firefighting operations in potentially complex situations.

1982 marked the lowest loss of life in the city since 1970. With only two fire deaths, the annual fatality rate of 11 was significantly reduced. One predominant factor which contributed to this was the enactment of a mandatory smoke detector ordinance by the city.

In an effort to work with continually shrinking budgets, the Wichita Fire Department implemented a refurbishment program for major fire apparatus. The maintenance division was called upon to strip old, but still serviceable, fire pumpers down to the frame and completely rebuild them This plan provided like-new fire apparatus at about 50 percent of the cost of new ones.

1983 was a year of several new innovations. Microcomputerization and its informational management capabilities were introduced. A Hazardous Material Response Team was organized to help deal with the ever increasing and complex hazardous materials in the community. Also introduced in 1983 was a new program designed to organize and manage fire ground operations. The Incident Command System was implemented to ensure that all emergency situations would be under the direction of only one command officer.

As a service to the community, another new program was introduced in 1983. Described as "the most farreaching new program of a direct service level to the community," the department introduced R.E.A.C.H. The acronym meant Respond Early And Control Hypertension which is basically what the program offered. Citizens could come to the fire stations each Saturday and have a free screening of their blood pressure which, in turn, was closely monitored by health care technicans.

As the department moved into 1984, manpower reductions were still occurring. In order to handle increasing alarms with less manpower, the introduction of Quick Response Vehicles was implemented. Small squad units manned by two men were able to handle many of the minor fire and medical calls. They could additionally respond in tandem with three man engine companies on larger incidents. Further improvements in the "incident command system" helped the fire suppression forces operate in a more efficient and timely manner.

Another program implemented in 1984 to increase efficiency was the introduction of Standard Operating Procedures for high rise incidents, Disaster Planning, and Prefire Planning for structures that would present major tactical problems during fire suppression.

Also introduced in the mid eighties was the concept of "minimum staffing". This program virtually assured all front line fire suppression units would remain in service with few exceptions. The staffing levels were maintained by hiring back, off-duty firefighters to cover the vacant positions created for whatever reason.

During Jim Sparr's seven years as the head of the Wichita Fire Department, a wide variety of programs and changes were introduced. He had a vision of shaping the department into a unit that was second to none.

Jim Sparr would take advantage of the "twenty and out" retirement program he helped obtain while serving as the union president. In his twentieth year Sparr would retire and accept the position of Fire Chief in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Chief Sparrs' Administrative Staff
Walt Campbell Deputy Chief Operations	Floyd Crawford Deputy Chief Administration
Jim Cloud Fire Marshal	Bill Newlin Division Chief
Bruce Roberts Division Chief	Wayne Avery Division Chief