Special meeting Tuesday on new Lynchburg fire chief

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The Lynchburg Area Joint Fire and Ambulance District board will hold a special meeting at 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Lynchburg fire station to review applicants for fire chief.

The vacancy in the chief’s position came about when former chief David Manning was hired as assistant chief with the Paint Creek Joint EMS/Fire District, a job he began on April 5.

Richard Warner, the former Highland County sheriff and new Lynchburg police chief, is helping with the search for a new fire chief. Warner said Monday that nine applications have been received for the chief’s position as of the Friday deadline.

Warner said Tuesday’s special meeting will be to review the applicants and set a future date for interviews.

Manning had served as chief in Lynchburg since he was hired for the post in August 2010. Before that he was with Hillsboro Fire and Rescue, which was disbanded after the city contracted with Paint Creek.

Manning said in a previous interview that he applied for the position with Paint Creek because it is a bigger district, and because he previously worked for Hillsboro Fire and Rescue, so “it’s kind of like coming back home.”

But leaving the Lynchburg district, he said, “really is bittersweet for me.” He said there have been positive changes made since he came on as chief, and that those changes could not have been accomplished without the support of the board and district members.

“I wish only the best for Lynchburg,” Manning said.

The Lynchburg fire department is an all-volunteer department aside from its chief. In an interview a couple of years ago, Manning said the department had 51 volunteers who rotated shifts to fill two part-time openings per day 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.

The Lynchburg department covers the village of Lynchburg and all of Dodson, Salem and Hamer townships, plus half of Union township. The district formed in 1999. It operates via a 4.3 mill operating levy and a 1.1 mill bond levy that built the fire station near Lynchburg.

The Lynchburg fire district board holds regular meetings the second Tuesday of each month, with a finance meeting at 6:45 p.m. and the regular meeting beginning at 7 p.m.

Meetings are held at the Lynchburg fire station every month except for March, June, September and December when the meetings are held at the Pricetown station.

Warner, meanwhile, was hired as police chief in Lynchburg in January by new mayor Terry Burden. Warner said Monday he’s enjoying the job and working to build the village’s police force.

Reach Gary Abernathy at 937-393-3456 or on Twitter @abernathygary.

Warner
http://aimmedianetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/33/2016/05/web1_Warner-Richard-cropped.jpgWarner
Tuesday meeting will consider 9 applicants

By Gary Abernathy

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