Meet your Fire Chief
Tue, 02/04/2025 - 2:57pm
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Andy Logan takes the helm of Willow Springs Fire Department
By:
Amanda Mendez, publisher
Newly hired fire chief Andy Logan is Willow Springs Fire Department’s fourth chief in five years. A hiring committee recommended Logan out of the seven candidates who applied, and the board of aldermen confirmed that decision on Jan. 16. He started work officially on Tuesday, Jan. 21.
Chief Logan sat down with Howell County News on Feb. 1 to talk over preliminary goals and his background.
“I’ve been around the fire service since the age of 7,” he began. His father was a volunteer firefighter, so Logan has smoke and sirens in his blood, so to speak.
He officially joined the roster of the Marr Township Volunteer Fire Department in 1988, at the age of 18. He worked his way up from rank-and-file firefighter to line officer, captain, assistant chief, and eventually chief of the department that served 90 square miles in Indiana.
Of course, this was a volunteer job. His day job was managing logistics as a third-party company managing 100 trucks and 1,000 trailers for a warehouse services company. This management experience outside the fire department is probably what gave him the edge, Logan said.
At the time of his recommendation to the board, hiring committee chairman Dean Aye said Logan is the candidate who showed, “a clearly superior management and strategic planning experience.”
On the job for less than two weeks as of the day of the interview, Logan identified “organization” as the department’s biggest hurdle at this point.
Staffing also remains a priority.
“We’re working with the folks we do have on the department now, and try to get more,” Logan said.
There are 14 firefighters on the roster, and small core group of volunteers who respond consistently. There have only been five calls since Logan has assumed command, he said. In fact, Logan had just returned from the most recent call to make our interview.
There have been no major personnel changes since he has taken command, Logan reports.
“That’s all in the rear-view mirror, and we’re moving forward,” he said. “Everyone starts with a clean slate with me.”
As Chief Logan evaluates equipment and gets organized, boosting the roster numbers is forefront in his mind.
“We can train you to drive a truck, run pumpers. It’s not necessarily running into burning buildings. If they just want to assist in certain areas, we can fit people to different roles,” Logan said.
Daytime volunteers are particularly in demand.
If you’re interested in joining the Willow Springs Fire Department, contact City Hall at 417-469-2107.