The mission of the Lake Charles Fire Department is to preserve life, property and the environment by responding to requests for assistance, both emergency and non-emergency. This will be accomplished through training, public education, inspection and quality assurance. The department will deliver this service in a manner that reflects pride and respect for the community.
Lake Charles Fire Department
 
 The Lake Charles Fire Department operates under the leadership of Chief Delton Carter.
Chief Carter

A lifelong resident of Lake Charles, Chief Carter grew up in the Goosport area of the city. He eventually finished his last years of high school at Lake Charles-Boston H.S. which is when he joined the Army during his senior year to become a 19 Delta Cavalry Scout.

After completing basic training, his first duty station was Fort Hood, Texas. It wasn’t long before he was sent overseas to Saudi Arabia, where he would spend nearly a year serving during the Gulf War. He returned to Fort Hood but eventually went back to the Middle East for three more tours. Chief Carter also did tours on all seven continents during his 15-year time in service.

Chief Carter joined the Lake Charles Fire Department in 1999. He said being a firefighter was physically demanding and he knew a lengthy career riding on the fire truck was not in the cards. He left the fire department briefly to work in the industrial field, but once he returned, a new opportunity came his way.

Chief Carter passed the test required to get into the fire department’s training division in 2002. Over the next three years, he received a number of certifications and attended an instructor class at Louisiana State University. “Everything you train your guys on, you have to be certified,” he said. “I had to go back to an academy to teach at an academy.”

While in the training division, Carter said the qualifications evolved. To attend classes at the National Fire Academy in Maryland, a bachelor’s degree was required. Chief Carter enrolled in Columbia Southern University in Alabama 2013. He first got an associate’s degree in fire science, then his bachelor’s degree in fire administration, and continuing on to receive his MBA in Human Resource Management all while continuing to teach at the fire academy. “It wasn’t easy, but I knew I needed to do it, I needed to separate myself from the pack,” he said.

Chief Carter was promoted as the fire department’s Chief Training Officer in March 2021 before becoming the Fire Chief of the Lake Charles Fire Department by appointment from Mayor Nic Hunter and an adopted resolution from the Lake Charles City Council in support of his decision on January 5 of 2022.