Stevens Point's new fire chief works to keep short-staffed department at high standard of service
STEVENS POINT – The fire service has been a part of Fire Chief J.B. Moody's entire life.
Moody, 42, grew up in Nekoosa, and his father was a volunteer firefighter and paramedic for the Nekoosa Fire Department.
"It's been something around our household forever," Moody said.
Moody had originally planned to be a flight nurse or an anesthetist, but he went into the United States Air Force and, about three years into nursing school, he was deployed overseas shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
"After being in the field, I realized I didn't want to do this; I didn't want to be a nurse," Moody said. "I wanted to be in the field."
Moody dropped out of nursing school, went to Mid-State Technical College to become a firefighter-paramedic and, in 2004, joined the Stevens Point Fire Department. He was deployed to Iraq in 2005 and came back to Stevens Point in 2006. He received his bachelor's degree in Developmental Leadership and Studies from the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh in 2020.
"I enjoyed the career field and doing the job every day," Moody said.
Moody has worked his way up through the department. He held the positions of lead paramedic, lieutenant, captain and assistant chief of fire department operations. He took on the role of fire chief at the beginning of March after the retirement of former Chief Robert Finn.
A chief doesn't always get the chance to get out in the field, but Moody has been out on critical emergency medical service calls in recent weeks. The department is short-staffed and is running an Overtime Relief, or OTR, Program, he said. From 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. each day, officers count as part of the minimum staffing numbers, Moody said. They all are ready to fill in empty spots when calls come in, he said.
"If I happen to be that person, I will fill that void," Moody said.
The department has a fire academy starting May 23 that will have three people in it, Moody said. The participants will go through the daily operations and are taught what they need to know to be a member of the Stevens Point Fire Department. When they finish the academy, they become full members of the department.
The department currently has seven or eight openings and is slowly filling them, Moody said. There have been a steady flow of applicants that have allowed the department to hire about three people at at time, he said. The Stevens Point department has had a lot of retirements recently and has several other people who could retire in the near future, Moody said.
The department also recently had promotions internally. Capt. Dennis Zvara has been promoted to assistant chief and the department needs to fill other officer positions from inside or outside the department, Moody said.
The public will see a few changes in the department. The city just purchased a 107-foot ladder truck from Pierce Manufacturing that will be coming at the end of 2022 or beginning of 2023. The city also is looking at the department's division chiefs for someone to take over the fire marshal's position.
The Stevens Point Fire Department currently is working on prioritization in the department, Moody said. The department is focused on community service, so if firefighters and paramedics aren't out responding to calls, they need to be training, so they can provide the very best emergency medical service care and firefighting, Moody said.
"It's our professionalism, respect, integrity, compassion and excellence in all we do," Moody said. "That really sums up our individuals when they're out in the community."
Contact Karen Madden at 715-345-2245 or kmadden@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @KMadden715, Instagram at @kmadden715 or Facebook at facebook.com/karen.madden.33.
This article originally appeared on Stevens Point Journal: Meet the Stevens Point Fire Department's new chief, J.B. Moody
