The process of selecting a fire chief for the Henderson Fire Department is underway, with applications in hand and interviews being set up, according to City Manager Frank Frazier.
August 31 is the date that former Fire Chief Danny Wilkerson retired after 40 years of service to the department and 16 years as chief. Assistant Fire Chief Steve Cordell is serving as Interim Fire Chief during the application and selection process.
Frazier said, “I have received 11 applications from human resources that I am reviewing and should be setting up interviews over the next two weeks or so. There are several internal applicants. Besides the internal applicants, most of the other applicants are not local.”
One of those 11 applications is that of Interim Fire Chief Cordell. Cordell expressed his excitement about being selected as the interim chief. He said, “I would love to be the next fire chief and to provide the leadership needed to move the department forward.”
Frazier said, “The City of Henderson Fire Department has maintained a very good record and has been actively involved in the community for many years, so we certainly want that to continue. Our department has experienced a good amount of retirement of seasoned firefighters, so it will be important for the new chief to provide leadership to insure that training and other aspects of running the fire department are passed on to the newer firefighters.”
Cordell said, if selected as chief, he would love to continue the good things going on in the department and the opportunity to carry the department successfully into the future.
A little more than a month ago, former Chief Wilkerson said, “We restructured the department some after he (Ranger) retired, and they may do that again when I leave, but the mission is still the same.” He agreed that it was to protect and serve.
Danny Wilkerson started as a firefighter on July 24, 1975. On April 1, 1999, Chief Danny Wilkerson became chief as former Chief Ranger Wilkerson retired. Ranger served 40 total years and 32 years as chief. All together, their time protecting and serving spanned 55 consecutive years.
Wilkerson reflected to a time in 2009 when deadly fires occurred in Henderson almost back to back. Several young people had perished. He said, “I felt like we were doing something wrong. That’s when we started our fire inspection program, and we haven’t had a fire death since then. We try to get into every home in the city limits and do inspections, get the person a smoke detector and install it.”
The interviews for the new chief are being conducted by Frazier as well as the human resources director. Applications are still being accepted as of the time of this publication.