Berryhill residents say Tulsa County trying to weaken fire department’s powers | News [Video]

TULSA, Okla. — Over the weekend, dozens of residents in the Tulsa County community of Berryhill took to social media to say Tulsa County government is trying to weaken its local rural fire protection district.

The letter asks the State Fire Marshal’s Office to revoke the Berryhill Fire Department’s ability to conduct local building and fire code inspections within its district and instead transfer that power to a fire marshal within Tulsa County government. 

“We work with the state fire marshal on a routine day-to-day basis on specific things,” said Berryhill Fire Chief Michael Hall. “The county really doesn’t. The county wants autonomy, wants to do its own thing, and well, it kind of got out of hand because they didn’t call us to a meeting. Let’s be honest.”

Hall said he was not aware Tulsa County was even considering a policy change involving BFD until it popped up on …