Sam Greif (How Plano Became the First Texas Fire Department to go to the 24/72 (42 Hour) Firefighter Workweek) - Episode 1142

Behind The Shield

James Geering

Health & Fitness, Mental Health, Fitness

4.9 • 667 Ratings

🗓️ 28 September 2025

⏱️ 124 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Sam began his career as a paramedic in 1982. In 1985 he joined the Fort Worth Fire department as a firefighter where he worked his way up through the ranks to assistant chief of operations. He retired after 30 years of service. In June 2015, after an extensive nationwide search, Sam was selected as the Fire Chief for the City of Plano a position he held for more than six years.

We discuss his journey into the fire service, the increasing call volume, firefighter health, why they opposed the 48/96, how humility and communication forged a successful push for a 24/72 (42 hour) shift schedule, the potential financial savings, their four year implementation plan and so much more.

Sam has served on numerous boards and committees at the state and national levels. He is currently the Chairman of the International CAD Consortium, Chairman of the Terrorism and Homeland Security Committee for the International Association of Fire Chiefs and is a past chairman of the Medical City Plano Board of Trustees. In addition, he served eight years on the Tarrant County 911 Board of Managers. Sam is a graduate of Leadership Plano's Class 35 and is a member of the Plano Rotary Club. He is a member of the International Association of Fire Chiefs, the Metropolitan Fire Chiefs Association, and the International Association of Chiefs of Police.

Transcript

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1:36.2	Now, to learn more about Thorn, go to episode 323 of the Behind the Shield podcast with
1:42.0	Joel Titoro and Wes Barnett. Welcome to the Behind the Shield podcast. Joel Totoro and Wes Barnett.
1:45.3	Welcome to the Behind a Shield podcast. As always, my name's James Gearing, and this week it is
1:49.3	my absolute honor to welcome on the show, former Fire Chief turned deputy city manager of
1:55.5	Plano, Texas, Sam Gryfe. Now, for those of you who have been following this for any amount of time, you will know I am
2:02.9	extremely passionate about making a healthy firefighter work week. And Plano, Texas just last week,
	...

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