Interim fire chief named to permanent position

David Hall, the co-interim chief of the Springfield Fire Department since June, will have the job permanently starting next week.

The city of Springfield announced the decision in a news release Monday morning. Hall had been serving as co-interim chief with Randy Villines since the summer retirement of Barry Rowell. Hall had been assistant chief for operations since 2007 and has been with the department for 20 years. Villines did not apply for the permanent position in the city's national search for a new full-time leader.

"We had a strong field of candidates, so it is encouraging to see how well David compared to his peers in the industry," City Manager Greg Burris said in the release. "I am very confident David will now take the department forward as it addresses challenges."

Among the challenges facing the department are increasing staff numbers to safe levels following the November passage of the Police and Fire Pension Fund sales tax, and maintaining the city's Insurance Services Office rating, which the city said last month is in danger of dropping due to a number of factors.

"We still have challenging times ahead of us, but I'm very excited about leading the department as we tackle these issues," Hall said in the release.[[In-content Ad]]