City of Savannah Fire Chief Derik Minard to step down July 1 after three years
The City of Savannah will soon be on the hunt for a new fire chief. Current Savannah Fire Chief Derik Minard will step down from his role on July 1, the city announced Monday.
In his new role Minard will serve as fire chief in Westminster, Colorado. Minard previously spent 28 years with the Westminster Fire Department before coming to Savannah in 2019.
“It has been the honor of a lifetime to cultivate an inclusive, welcoming culture where all firefighters and civilian staff want to come to work each day and have a voice in the vision for the future of our department,” Minard said in a statement.
"I appreciate City Manager (Jay) Melder, our City Council, and my fellow members of Team Savannah for welcoming me and allowing me to be a part of this work family for three years; it is bittersweet to be leaving a city I have enjoyed calling home and going back to the only other home I have known as a firefighter is the only reason I would ever leave.”
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Melder praised Minard for his professionalism during his tenure in Savannah.
“Team Savannah is proud of the major accomplishments achieved during Chief Minard’s tenure, and we are a better organization because of his leadership. He led a cultural transformation of our Fire Department that will continue to pay dividends for our firefighters and those we serve well into the future," Melder said.
"Savannah Fire is one of the nation’s premier fire departments, and Chief Minard and his leadership team deserve a great deal of credit for our success. We wish him nothing but the best as he returns to Westminster to lead his hometown fire department.”
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A few of Minard’s major initiatives in his three years since becoming fire chief include restructuring the department, promoting a diverse and inclusive culture that included the hiring of Savannah's first female fire marshal, resolving pay system issues for SFD’s commissioned staff, leading the department through a successful reaccreditation with the Commission on Fire Accreditation International, enhancing mental health support services, and instituting a servant-leader model among the leadership team.
Melder has appointed Assistant Chief Elzie Kitchen to serve as interim Fire Chief effective July 2. A Johnson High School graduate and Savannah resident since 1977, Chief Kitchen has served the Savannah Fire Department since 1998.
Kitchen holds master’s degrees in emergency services management, public administration, and organizational leadership from Columbia Southern and Waldorf Universities and was recently awarded the designation of Chief Fire Officer from the Center for Public Safety Excellence.
The City will undertake a process to hire a permanent fire chief.
Katie Nussbaum is the city and county government reporter for the Savannah Morning News. Contact her at knussbaum@savannahnow.com. Twitter: KnussSMN
This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Savannah Fire Chief Derik Minard resigns, Elzie Kitchen named interim
