Retired OKC Fire Department
Aug 12, 2020
Major Henson
Retired OKC Fire Department

Major Rick G. Henson attended Fire Training Academy of the Oklahoma City Fire Department in 1979 as a Recruit/Trainee.  This would lead to a stellar 27 year career with the Oklahoma City Fire Department. He was previously a 1969 Graduate of Tuttle High School where he played varsity athletics in football and track and field. 

Major Henson was promoted to Corporal in 1980, serving in Oklahoma City Stations 21, 19, 9, 1, and 11. In 1986 he achieved the rank of Sergeant and later, Lieutenant serving as an Apparatus Operator/Driver for  Station 15, Rescue/Ladder 15, Station 3, Engine 3, Station 9, Tanker/Pumper 9, and Station 11, engine 11.  In doing so he finished first in the competitive exam for this rank. His promotion to Captain and Junior Officer was completed in 1991 when he served in that capacity at Station 8 until his promotion to Major in 1993.  

After his promotion, Major Henson was temporarily assigned as Training Officer at the Oklahoma City Fire Training Academy, supervising the training of two rookie training academies totaling ninety new fire fighters. Following this he served as Station Officer at Stations 27, 19 and 35.

While at the Training Academy on April 19, 1995, Major Henson was among the first line officers on the scene at the Bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Building in Downtown Oklahoma City.  During the next thirteen days he served first in the Incident Command Post as Planning Officer, Logistics Officer and Materials Acquisition Officer.  Perhaps his most intense role in the search and recovery phase of the incident was his leadership of a thirty person search and recovery team during the latter days of the event. 

In addition to a very long and successful career with the Oklahoma City Fire Department, Major Henson also received the Award of Merit from the Oklahoma State Firefighters Association in 1985 for intervening to save the life of a shooting victim in peril of his own life. He also was selected in 1996 as Fire Fighter of the Year by the Committee of One Hundred, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma for significant contributions in the development of rural fire fighting capabilities and methods.  He is married to Mary, his wife of 46 years. They have four adult children, Joshua, Matthew, Abagail and Jonathan and eight grandchildren. He is a member of The Bridge Assembly of God, Mustang, Oklahoma. 

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