Current source roster
Tulsa Fire Chief
Fire chief
June 16, 2020–present
People / Government & civic life
Michael Baker
Tulsa Fire Chief
A fire chief whose career connects emergency medicine, personnel decisions and interagency crisis response.
Michael Baker has led the Tulsa Fire Department since June 16, 2020. His earlier work in emergency medical services connects his public office to ambulance governance and behavioral-health partnerships. His authority includes department operations and personnel processes, constrained by mayoral, Council and legal oversight.
From emergency medicine to department leadership
Baker describes entering Tulsa’s June 1995 fire academy. The City’s appointment announcement says his first assignment was Station 4 and that he led the department’s emergency-medical-services division from 2009. His earlier positions also included captain and public information officer. Mayor G.T. Bynum selected him as Tulsa’s twelfth fire chief on June 15, 2020, effective the following day. The appointment placed a leader with a long EMS portfolio in charge of the entire department.
Career & public service
- June 1995
Tulsa fire academy
Baker’s own career account dates his entry to the June 1995 academy.
- 2009–2020
Emergency medical services
The City dates the start of his EMS leadership to 2009.
- June 16, 2020
Fire chief
Began the appointment announced the previous day by G.T. Bynum.
- September 2024
EMSA trustee
Minutes document voting service; current roster omits him.
- Fiscal year ended June 2025
Professional association president
Listed as president in the Oklahoma Fire Chiefs Association’s return filed May 15, 2026.
- July 25, 2025
Promotion case judgment
Accepted offer resulted in judgment against the City, including fees and costs.
- November 2025
Incident-cost authority
Ordinance 25712 established the chief’s role in billing guidelines and initial appeals.
- September 2026
Tisdale case dismissed
Order signed September 24 and filed September 28 dismissed the refiled action.
People, institutions and the relationships between them
Following the connections
Each step below represents a documented relationship. Dates and roles belong to the individual links; a path can span different periods.
The person, office, department and municipal government are distinct records.
departmentTulsa Fire Department
programTulsa Community Response Team
A program partnership, not ownership of the nonprofit.
personMichael Baker
organizationEmergency Medical Services Authority
Documented voting service in 2024; not current board membership.
Documented relationships
13 documented relationships · Historical and current roles remain distinct.
Current source roster
Tulsa Fire Chief
Controls and supervises · Tulsa Fire Department
Current code
Office distinct from incumbent; rulemaking subject to mayor and council.
Historical record
G.T. Bynum
Selected as fire chief
June 15, 2020 announcement
Appointment event; employment began next day.
Current source roster
Tulsa Fire Department
Municipal department · City of Tulsa
Current source roster
Tulsa Fire Chief
Chairs personnel committee · Tulsa Fire Department Personnel Committee
Current code
Section 108; tests/rating standards adopted by committee subject to mayor approval.
Historical record
Emergency Medical Services Authority
Trustee
Documented September 2024; self-reported July 2020–December 2024
No exact dates assigned; current roster omits Baker. Institutional minutes verify service, not entire self-reported term.
Current source roster
Family & Children’s Services
Provides COPES clinician · Tulsa Community Response Team
Current service description
Current source roster
Tulsa Fire Department
First responder partner · Tulsa Community Response Team
Current service description
Historical record
Tulsa Community Response Team
Instrumental in partnership, according to F&CS CEO
2020 assessment
Attributed assessment by Gail Lapidus, not measured outcome or ownership.
Current source roster
Tulsa Fire Department
Risk reduction donations routed through foundation · Tulsa Community Foundation
Current department webpage
Program support; no assertion Baker governs foundation or personally receives donations.
Historical record
Oklahoma Fire Chiefs Association
President in FY2025 return
Fiscal year ended June 2025
Institutional return and identity-matched professional biography; exact dates/current presidency unconfirmed.
Historical record
Naval Postgraduate School
Master’s, security studies
Completed before fire-chief appointment
Graduation year not established from original degree record.
Historical record
Oklahoma State University
Bachelor’s, university studies
Date not established
Speaker biography; campus and graduation date not supplied.
The promotion lawsuit and its resolution
A 2021 assistant-chief promotion process became a significant test of department leadership. Greta Hurt and Julie Lynn challenged the selection of two male candidates and sued the City in 2022. A July 2025 City legal memorandum says Baker replaced the outside assessment with an interview panel that included himself, Deputy Chief Brent Goins and a retired chief, citing time and cost. The women alleged discrimination; the City defended the selection. The court allowed the promotion-discrimination claim to proceed beyond summary judgment while dismissing other claims. The parties subsequently resolved the case through an accepted offer of judgment, rather than a jury verdict.
The department he leads
The adopted FY 2027 budget authorizes $111.999 million for fire operations and $7.461 million for capital projects, totaling $119.460 million for July 2026–June 2027. The original table expresses dollars in thousands; these are appropriations, not Baker’s compensation or proof of money spent. Its staffing schedule lists 763 authorized positions, including the chief; that is not a count of filled jobs. The budget funds an October 2026 academy for 22 cadets and plans another for FY 2028. The current budget is a better guide to institutional scale than older figures still displayed on the department’s general webpage. Council adopted the citywide budget in June 2026.
Education and professional work
His National Fallen Firefighters Foundation speaker biography lists a bachelor’s degree in university studies from Oklahoma State University, a master’s in security studies from the Naval Postgraduate School’s Center for Homeland Defense and Security, and completion of the National Fire Academy Executive Fire Officer program. An NPS account independently identifies him as a master’s graduate and discusses his thesis on social networks and high healthcare utilization. These sources establish educational background without supplying a complete dated transcript. The City also reported more than a decade of work as an International Association of Fire Fighters field instructor when it appointed him in 2020.
Fire response, ambulance governance and mental-health care
Baker’s work crosses institutions with distinct responsibilities. EMSA’s September 25, 2024 minutes record him voting as a trustee at a meeting chaired by Phil Lakin. He is absent from the current Emergency Medical Services Authority roster; his professional biography dates that service to July 2020–December 2024. It should therefore be described as historical.
A connection to behavioral-health services
Family & Children’s Services describes the Community Response Team as a partnership of its COPES clinicians, Tulsa Police Department and Tulsa Fire Department. Its separate Alternative Response Team pairs a COPES clinician with a fire paramedic, dividing clinical assessment and medical care between the two. In the 2020 appointment announcement, then-F&CS CEO Gail Lapidus credited Baker with helping make the CRT partnership work and with developing CARES, a referral program for people with recurring needs. That is an attributed institutional assessment; the documents do not establish how much the programs reduced repeat calls or hospital use.
Professional leadership and charitable support
The Oklahoma Fire Chiefs Association’s Form 990 for the fiscal year ending June 2025 lists Michael Baker as president. This is a dated officer disclosure; it does not establish his exact term or a current presidency. Separately, Tulsa Fire’s website directs risk-reduction donations through Tulsa Community Foundation to support smoke alarms, accessible warning devices, fire-safety kits and public education. The foundation’s role in receiving donations is distinct from Baker’s public office. No personal receipt of those donations or authority over the foundation is established by this arrangement.
What the judgment required
On July 25, 2025, the federal court entered a $500,000 Rule 68 judgment for Hurt and Lynn against the City of Tulsa, including costs and attorneys’ fees. The Council supporting packet subsequently requested $501,007.46: the judgment plus $1,007.46 in postjudgment interest calculated through August 12, 2025. These are overlapping amounts, not two separate awards. The packet includes an unsigned payment resolution, so it does not itself prove disbursement. Baker participated in the challenged promotion process, but this judgment is against the City; it is not a personal damages judgment against him.
A separate personnel case dismissed in 2026
Fire Code Officer Rodney Tisdale named Baker, Goins, Chad Miller and Andy Teeter as defendants in a separate workplace-demotion suit. His December 23, 2025 petition identifies it as a refiling of CJ-2025-1673. The allegations are not findings. In CJ-2025-5956, the docket records a motion to dismiss for failure to comply with court orders; an order signed September 24 and filed September 28, 2026 dismissed the entire action. The order also imposed sanctions on the plaintiff and his lawyer. No later substantive entry appeared in the docket checked October 3. The order does not recite findings on the truth of the underlying workplace allegations.
A newer decision power: incident-cost appeals
A November 2025 ordinance added a cost-recovery system for certain fire responses involving at-fault parties. Under Title 13, sections 504–505, the fire chief sets implementing guidelines, establishes insurance-claim collection procedures and reviews disputes about incident classification and charges. The Council can review the chief’s decisions on appeal. This gives the office a specific administrative decision role affecting residents and insurers, with an explicit route for challenging its determinations.
Interpretation
How to understand his institutional position
Baker’s influence is clearest where operational command meets other systems: public personnel rules, the City’s budget, ambulance governance and nonprofit mental-health response. His earlier EMS trusteeship and professional-association leadership add documented connections beyond the Fire Department. Those ties help explain how institutions work together; they do not demonstrate control of those institutions or coordination outside the relationships documented here.
Check the record
Sources & corrections
Research checked 2026-10-03. Roles and financial figures retain their source dates. Sections appear only when supported material is available; an omitted section is not a finding that no such relationship exists.
- City of Tulsa — Fire Department ↗
primary · Checked 2026-10-03
Current chief identification; community risk reduction donations through Tulsa Community Foundation. Undated general staffing/budget figures excluded as stale.
- City of Tulsa — appointment of Michael Baker ↗
primary · Source date 2020-06-15 · Checked 2026-10-03
Appointment effective June 16; EMS director since 2009, Station 4, IAFF instruction, CARES and attributed Lapidus assessment of CRT.
- Tulsa Code — Title 13, Fire Department ↗
public-record · Checked 2026-10-03
Current August 26, 2026 edition inspected in browser: sections 100, 102, 104–108, 206–208 and 500–505. Chief controls operations; mayor/council rule approval; personnel committee; incident cost recovery and appeal.
- City of Tulsa — FY2027 department budgets ↗
public-record · Checked 2026-10-03
Printed 4-10–4-13/PDF pages 11–14. FY27 BUDGET column: USD thousands; operating 111,999, capital 7,461, total 119,460. Visually checked page 12; staffing 763 authorized positions, not filled jobs. Covers July 2026–June 2027; publication date not printed.
- KRMG — Council approves FY2027 budget ↗
independent-reporting · Source date 2026-06-17 · Checked 2026-10-03
Reports unanimous Council adoption and fire academy/equipment funding.
- National Fallen Firefighters Foundation — summit speakers ↗
primary · Checked 2026-10-03
Chief Michael Baker biography: earlier EMS/PIO/captain roles, OSU bachelor’s, NPS master’s, Executive Fire Officer program, 2016 EMS10. Speaker biography is attributed institutional/self-supplied background.
- Michael Baker — professional biography ↗
self-description · Checked 2026-10-03
Self-description: June 1995 academy anniversary; EMSA July 2020–December 2024. Dates attributed, not employer personnel files. OFCA past-president label conflicts with filing chronology; exact term not inferred.
- Naval Postgraduate School — CORE social analytics ↗
primary · Checked 2026-10-03
Identifies CHDS master’s graduate Michael Baker as Tulsa EMS chief and names his thesis on social networks and high healthcare utilization.
- Family & Children’s Services — crisis services ↗
primary · Checked 2026-10-03
Community Response Team and Alternative Response Team descriptions: clinician/police/fire roles. Organizational service account; no independently measured outcomes inferred.
- EMSA — September 25, 2024 minutes ↗
public-record · Source date 2024-09-25 · Checked 2026-10-03
Page 1: Chief Baker seconds consent agenda, recorded aye; Phil Lakin chairs. Documents historical voting service.
- EMSA — current trustees ↗
primary · Checked 2026-10-03
Current eleven-member roster omits Baker; contains Lakin and Tulsa public safety commissioner Laurel Roberts. No exact departure or direct succession inferred.
- Oklahoma Fire Chiefs Association — FY2025 Form 990 ↗
public-record · Source date 2026-05-15 · Checked 2026-10-03
IRS return reproduced by ProPublica; fiscal year ending June 2025; filed May 15, 2026. Part VII, section A row 1 lists Michael Baker president. Latest available indexed return checked; no exact tenure inferred.
- Hurt and Lynn — judgment and City settlement packet ↗
public-record · Source date 2025-07-30 · Checked 2026-10-03
6-page original packet25-632-1: p5 court docket 63 filed July 25, 2025, Rule 68 $500000 judgment including costs/fees against City; p3 proposed payment $501007.46 includes $1007.46 postjudgment interest through Aug12; p6 July 18 City legal memo and promotion process; p4 unsigned resolution. Visually inspected all pages. USD. Payment request not evidence of disbursement.
- Tulsa World/Firehouse — promotion lawsuit settlement ↗
independent-reporting · Source date 2025-07-24 · Checked 2026-10-03
Curtis Killman, Tulsa World/TNS; parties’ accounts of Rule 68 offer and promotion dispute. Subsequent July 25 original judgment controls disposition.
- Tisdale — refiled petition CJ-2025-5956 ↗
public-record · Source date 2025-12-23 · Checked 2026-10-03
Filed December 23, 2025; pp1–3 identify individual defendants, Fire Code Officer plaintiff, demotion allegations and earlier caseCJ-2025-1673. Allegations only; personal injury/private details omitted.
- Tisdale — dismissal order ↗
public-record · Source date 2026-09-28 · Checked 2026-10-03
One-page order signed September 24,filed September 28, 2026; entire case dismissed; plaintiff and counsel ordered to pay City $1400 sanctions by October 1. Visually inspected. Does not recite findings on truth of underlying allegations.
- OSCN — Tisdale v Baker and others ↗
public-record · Checked 2026-10-03
Checked October 3, 2026; September 22 motion to dismiss for failure to comply with court orders; September 24 dismissal, September 28 filed order; no later substantive entry found. Future-dated administrative case note ignored.
- City of Tulsa — management team and identified portrait ↗
primary · Checked 2026-10-03
Chief Michael Baker row, media/23039/michael-baker.jpg. Official identity caption; photographer/reuse license not stated. Low-resolution identification portrait with City attribution and source link.