
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, June 24, 1993                   TAG: 9306240210
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C1   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: RICK LINDQUIST STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RADFORD                                LENGTH: Medium

FIRE DIVISION SOUGHT RADFORD PLAN LISTS SEPARATE DUTIES FOR CHIEF

A volunteer fire chief, elected from the ranks of the city's active volunteer firefighters, would head the Radford Fire Department under a reorganization plan up for City Council consideration Monday.

The plan, released Wednesday by City Manager Robert Asbury, recommends establishing two separate Fire Department divisions.

Division I would be responsible for putting out fires, while Division II, headed by a paid fire marshal - a new position - would handle arson investigation and enforcement, fire prevention and hazardous-materials coordination.

Speculation is that current Fire Chief Calvin "Cabby" Whitt will be the new fire marshal. Earlier this week, a source within the Fire Department who asked not to be identified said that Whitt "probably is no longer going to be the fire chief," and that word of the chief's pending change in job status was "common knowledge" within the department.

In any case, it seems likely that Whitt will remain a city employee. Asbury has said he would not ask the chief to resign and had no plans to dismiss him.

Earlier this month, council directed Asbury "to develop an optimal organization of paid and volunteer manpower." At the same meeting, council also reinstated three paid firefighters' positions that it had slated for elimination on Jan. 1, 1994.

If council OKs Asbury's plan, it would place six paid "fire engineers" and up to 50 volunteer firefighters under the new volunteer fire chief, who would report to the city manager. The department now is authorized to have 35 volunteers. It has six paid firefighters plus Whitt.

Sammy Bell, president of Radford Fire and Rescue Inc., was positive about the plan and said he hopes council will approve it. "It sounds like they're on the right track," he said.

Bell, a volunteer, handles the corporate and financial administration for the volunteers.

Under the plan, the new chief's election would be subject to confirmation by the city manager. The city manager also would appoint full-time, paid Fire Department employees as well as volunteers recommended by the volunteer fire chief.

A similar situation exists in Dublin, where an unpaid fire chief elected by volunteers supervises one paid full-time firefighter and the department's other volunteers. The chief, Robbie Cecil, also is a paid, part-time Dublin firefighter and holds a full-time, paid position in the Pulaski Fire Department.

Asbury said that if council approves all of his recommendations, they could take effect right away.

by CNB