Cottonwood Shores fire chief resigns

By Glynis Crawford Smith

The Highlander

Although the Cottonwood Shores City Council on Thursday approved development of a new contract with the volunteer fire department, its creation will not be coordinated with the current fire chief.

An announcement of the resignation of Travis Hockensmith as chief of the Cottonwood Shores Volunteer Fire Department (CWSVFD) went out via email Sunday, June 19.

The announcement from the VFD public information officer, Janet K. Taylor-Carusi, said Hockensmith cited working a full time job and entering a college masters degree program as primary reasons for stepping down.

“His resignation has not yet been accepted by the CWSVFD Board of Directors at this time,” read the announcement. “In the interim Captain Adam Hernandez is acting as chief for the department. More information will be available once the Board has met on July 12.”

The city council created a committee to draft a new contract with the department. Council Member Roger Wayson and Mayor Pro Tem Stephen Sherry were assigned the task.

The reasons for Hockensmith's resignation are exactly the circumstances other firefighters in an all-volunteer department face and a big part of the contention with the council over funding based on goals the council established.

“We want to provide the best service we can, but with less income the worse the service will be,” Hockensmith said in January. “It wouldn’t be because of the commitment of our members, but if we don’t have money for tires or to fix our trucks, we can’t use it.
“In the meantime, we’ve gone out on a limb to keep providing service. Each time we meet a benchmark, we’ll have to wait for the council to decide whether to pay us or not.”