THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, September 8, 1994 TAG: 9409080506
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY PAUL SOUTH, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Short : 44 lines
Two Outer Banks towns named new fire department heads Wednesday, with Doug Penland taking over as chief in Kill Devil Hills and Bill Ryan becoming acting chief in Nags Head.
Penland, 44, has been with the department since August 1987, and since 1989 has served as fire supervisor. Before joining the department as a paid employee, he served for seven years as a volunteer firefighter.
An Asheville native, Penland holds a bachelor's degree in environmental health from East Tennessee State University. He and his wife, Marilyn, have been residents of Kill Devil Hills since 1978.
Penland replaces Bill Gard, who served the department for three decades before retiring. The new chief acknowledged that he has ``big shoes to fill.''
``It's been my privilege to work with Chief Gard for the last 15 or 16 years,'' said Penland. ``Bill has done a tremendous job, and has left this department in a good position. Our constant goal is to provide a high quality of service to the community, and with the high quality of both paid and volunteer staff we have I'm confident we can continue to do that. But we also want to continue to look for ways that we can enhance our delivery of services.''
Penland will be paid $35,247 annually.
In Nags Head, Ryan will replace Doug Remaley, who resigned last month to accept a post with Dare County. Ryan, who will assume his new duties Oct.1, is now the director of the ocean rescue division of the department.
In addition, Kevin Zorc, a veteran Nags Head firefighter, has been promoted to deputy chief.
Zorc replaces Lowell Spivey, who resigned earlier this summer and is now the fire chief in Kitty Hawk. The department changes were announced at Wednesday's meeting of the Nags Head Board of Commissioners.
Nags Head Town Manager J. Webb Fuller said there is no salary set for the acting chief. However, the salary range for the chief is from $36,894 to $43,336. The range for the deputy chief is from $28,061 to $39,332. by CNB