Readytogo... AMEN! Presuming the fire chief has had no medical training beyond CPR and first-aid, you won't hear any argument out of me.

Although, I do think department head positions should be reserved for folks who have made themselves a student of their specific discipline rather than branching out to get a taste of all there is out there. Let's be honest, anyone in the Fire, EMS or Police field knows there is no way they can ever learn all there is to know about their own discipline, much less one(s) they have dabbled in on the side just for part-time work or for a change in scenery. What they end up amounting to is a jack of all trades and a master of none.

ladinblue72... You are correct, but I know of no firefighters who are trained as "sworn officers" except those who are part of joint ventures where police and fire departments jointly own a helicopter, etc. Even so, that training is not likely to be at the department head level especially in such a small town. Regardless, I still think there were much better candidates to pick from. I speculate potential problems would only arise if the police chief tried to act as the operations officer at a fire related incident. I have no reason to doubt he/she couldn't perform well as the top administrator and incident commander. I just find it interesting that everyone presumes a cop can fill in as a firefighter anytime, yet I am confident the PBA and other LE watch groups would cry foul if the shoe were on the other foot.

I am from Roxboro and our police chief and sherriff both were once a firefighter so that could be the case here

firecaptain 2000, that's any different from a fire chief being in charge of EMS when the closest they have ever been to patient care is walking by an ambulance? What does a career firefighter know about being a paramedic when all most have had was a basic first-aid class!

Actually in some departments police chiefs are also trained in fire and vice versa. I am not saying this is the case in this one but it could be...