02/22/08
Baldwin City is about to get safer. At least that is the idea behind hiring a full-time fire chief.
Members of city hall passed an ordinance Feb. 4 that amends Chapter 7, Article 1 of the city code and caps the annual salary of the fire chief at $40,000.
Allen Craig has been the volunteer fire chief for the city for more than 20 years, which service councilman Tony Brown said is more than admirable. Brown was a part of the 3-2 majority that accepted the creation of the position.
The original idea that developed in 2005 was to hire a full-time firefighter. Due to issues on handling the chain of command, the council decided to hire a fire chief that would lead the volunteers.
“A lot of fire work isn’t as much firefighting as it is prevention,” Brown said.
Brown said the current chief spends Saturdays and Sundays training the volunteer firefighters, whereas the new chief will be able to devote time during the week to training and other business.
“We feel like we were a little bit uninsured,” Brown said. “I’m hoping to get someone that has been a firefighter for a couple years and would like some supervisory experience.”
Brown said advertising for the position would begin next month.