Jeff Burr named Hartsville fire chief
By JIM FAILE
The Hartsville Fire Department has a new fire chief.
Interim City Manager Vern Myers announced Thursday that after an extensive search he has hired 25-year Hartsville Fire Department veteran Capt. Jeff Burr for the post. Burr’s promotion became effective Thursday, Myers said before a group of firefighters, city officials and guests.
Burr said he was grateful for the opportunity and pledged to continue to work to make the department the best it can be for the safety and protection of the citizens of Hartsville.
“The first order of business will be to talk with all of the firefighters to see which way we want to go to move the department forward,” Burr said. “We’ve got one of the top departments in the state. I want to sit down and look at what we can do better, see where our strengths and weaknesses are, and let’s go from there.”
Burr, a captain for 16 years, joined the fire department as a volunteer firefighter in March of 1985.
Burr thanked his predecessors in the chief’s post, including former Fire Chief Tommy Livingston, who he said gave him the opportunity to join the department as a volunteer firefighter 25 years ago.
He said he has learned over the years from Livingston and his successors, including former Fire Chief Bill Heathman, whose retirement in June left the chief’s position vacant. “We’ve got some big shoes to fill,” Burr said. “One person cannot do it by himself.”
“This is a very historical moment in Hartsville’s history,” Myers said.
Myers said Burr was selected from among 32 applicants for the position, which was vacated when former Chief Bill Heathman retired in June.
He said applications came from across the United States.
Myers said the final choice came down to two captains within the department, Burr and Capt. Gregg Hickey.
Hickey will continue to serve as a captain, Myers said. “Obviously Gregg is disappointed, but he has said he will continue to be here and support the new chief,” he said.
“This says a lot about the strength of this department, about how great you guys are and how well you work together,” Myers said.
He said he narrowed the field of candidates down to 20. He then asked five fire chiefs from across South Carolina to rate the 20 on a selected set of standards.
From there, based on the ratings and recommendations, Myers said he narrowed the field further to seven, five from outside of the department and two from within.
He said a panel including himself, fire chiefs from Florence, Orangeburg and Georgetown, and Sammy King, the safety director for Sonoco, interviewed the seven.
Myers said the professionals doing the interviews provided valuable insight to him in making the selection.
“They said if we wanted to go in a different direction, there were five qualified candidates,” he said. “If we wanted to stay inside, we had two very good candidates.”
He said the hiring process and the comments he heard from other fire chiefs involved in the process showed him that the Hartsville Fire Department is one of the most technically sound and highly respected fire departments in the state.
Burr is married to Jacey Stone and has a son, Ryan Burr, 23.
Myers said Burr’s promotion and a recent retirement leave two captain’s positions open. He said he hopes to have both filled by the end of this week.
The Hartsville Fire Department has 14 full-time firefighters, an administrative assistant and about 18 volunteer firefighters, Burr said.