Fire Chief Kevin O’Connor Announces Resignation
Fire Chief Kevin O’Connor announced that he will be
resigning from his position as Fire Chief from the Columbus Division of Fire
effective May 28, 2020.
“I appreciate Chief O’Connor’s service to the Columbus
residents as part of the Fire team for 31 years,” said Mayor Andrew J. Ginther.
“His commitment to expanding diversity through the cadet program has positioned
the Division to better reflect the community that it serves in the near
future.”
Public Safety Director Ned Pettus, Jr., noted O’Connor’s
accomplishments on the restructuring of EMS personnel and national
accreditation. “Over the last five years as fire chief, Chief O’Connor
developed a system that realigned resources to match the future needs of the
City of Columbus with the change of the division’s EMS deployment system,” said
Director Pettus. “Under his leadership the division was reaccredited in 2017 –
not an easy undertaking. We know that less than 1% of the Fire
departments in the country meet this gold standard of excellence.
O’Connor was also critical in the initiation of the Mobile
Stroke Unit, a concept that enables diagnosis and treatment at the emergency
site that was launched in 2019.
Interviews will be held to select an interim chief from
within the Division of Fire, while the city launches a nationwide search to
identify the best candidates to lead the Columbus Division of Fire.