Tulsa Fire Chief Allen LaCroix announces retirement

TULSA - Tulsa Fire Chief Allen LaCroix announced Monday that he will officially retire with the city of Tulsa, according to Mayor Dewey Bartlett.

LaCroix will retire June 30 after 37 years of service.

"I have enjoyed serving the citizens of Tulsa with the Tulsa Fire Department and after 37 years of service, I have decided to retire to spend more time with my family and grandchildren," LaCroix said in a statement. "I would put the Tulsa Fire Department up against any fire department in the country and spending time with the men and women of our department will be one of the things I miss most."

LaCroix first started with the Tulsa Fire Department in 1975 as a firefighter.  He landed the top job as fire chief in January 2002.

“Chief Allen LaCroix has been an outstanding public servant and has seen this city through many historic events, including the 2007 ice storm, last year's record blizzards and the economic downturn when I first took office," Bartlett said.

"During the economic downturn, Chief LaCroix was instrumental in the reorganization of the Tulsa Fire Department, saving the jobs of 147 firefighters and ensuring that the level of service to citizens never changed.”

Bartlett added, “Chief LaCroix’s guidance, advice and experience will be missed at the City of Tulsa and I am so very grateful for his service to this community.”

Currently, LaCroix leads the city of Tulsa’s High Performance Government initiative and serves as an evaluator for the International Association of Fire Chiefs for major disasters.

In 2011, LaCroix was involved in a scandal that placed him on administrative leave after accusations that he and the mayor's Chief of Staff Terry Simonson gave special treatment to Simonson's son, who was going through the fire academy. 

Simonson resigned shortly after the scandal.