Retiring Green Bay Metro Fire Department Chief David Litton focused 'on small changes that made a big difference'
GREEN BAY - The people who expected major changes in the Green Bay Metro Fire Department when David Litton was hired as fire chief from a job in Illinois in the summer of 2013 may have been surprised when he first arrived in Wisconsin.
Hired from among dozens of applicants to lead the largest fire department in northeastern Wisconsin, Litton first observed the department at work, then he began instituting some small but significant adjustments.
More:Green Bay Metro's next fire chief will be Rockford's Matthew Knott
Those adjustments, though seemingly minor, had a significant impact on the department's "response time" to incidents, while increasing the safety of the more than 100 firefighters who worked out of the seven stations in the city, an eighth in Allouez and a ninth the city added in January 2021 when it took over fire protection for the city of Bellevue, said Rod Goldhahn, president of the city's Police and Fire Commission.
"He was our choice out of 39 applicants," Goldhahn said. "And we're thrilled that we made the right one."
RELATED:Bellevue Fire Department merges with Green Bay Metro Fire Department
Litton is retiring this week after a 41-year firefighting career.
Litton, formerly the chief in Bollingbrook, Illinois, a southwest Chicago suburb, made changes that earned the Green Bay Metro Fire Department a No. 1 Public Protection Classification rating from the Insurance Services Office, and that reduced the chances that firefighters would be exposed to cancer-causing substances, said Lt. Shauna Walesh, the department's public information officer and life-safety educator.
Matthew Knott, a fire official in Rockford, Illinois, has been hired as Litton's successor. His official start date was unclear, but Goldhahn said Knott has already met and trained with some firefighters in preparation for the Green Bay job.
The city of Green Bay will honor Litton at 9 a.m. Friday in the Council Chambers on the second floor of City Hall, South Jefferson and East Walnut streets. A reception, with coffee and cake, will follow at Fire Station 1, 501 S. Washington St. Litton, Goldhahn and Mayor Eric Genrich are among those scheduled to speak.
Email Doug Schneider at DSchneid@Gannett.com, call him at (920) 265-2070 and follow him on Twitter @PGDougSchneider
This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Green Bay Metro Fire Chief Litton retiring after almost 10 years here
