By DAVE SCHULTZ

The ranks of the city’s public safety employees were filled out a little bit this week when five firefighters were added to the Bluffton Fire Department’s roster and a new police officer was added to the Bluffton Police Department’s roster.

A ceremony was held Wednesday evening at the Bluffton Police-Fire Building to officially note the promotion of three men to shift lieutenants and another one to training officer Pictured are, left to right, Fire Chief Don Craig, Deputy Fire Chief Chris Wolf, Battalion Chief Brandon Mechling, Lts. Ryan Stahly, Jim Platt, Taylon Elzey, and Dane Zoda, who is now the department’s training officer. (Photo by Dave Schultz)

The city’s firefighting ranks have been shrinking in recent years, but Fire Chief Don Craig said his department has run an “aggressive” advertising campaign with a goal of filling those vacancies. He reported to the city’s Board of Public Works and Safety Tuesday that four paid/on call firefighters and one part-time firefighter have passed the required tests, and he asked the board to approve the hirings.

The two Board of Works members present Tuesday, Mayor John Whicker and Josh Hunt, approved Craig’s request.

Craig said there were 16 applications for the 15 paid/on call and six part-time firefighter vacancies. On the day of testing, he said, 10 applicants showed up, Eight of them passed the agility test and five of them passed the written test.

King honored for 20 years
Capt. Justin King, right, was honored by the Bluffton Fire Department for his 20 years of service to the organization. He’s pictured with Fire Chief Don Craig, Deputy Fire Chief Chris Wolf, and Battalion Chief Brandon Mechling. Related photo, Page 1. (Photo by Dave Schultz)

The five names that Craig brought to the board were Gage Diffe, Kirk Bear, George Springer, and Seth Bennett as paid/on call firefighters and Abraham Pratt as a part-time firefighter.

The four paid/on call firefighters will begin Fire 1 and Fire 2 classes Sept. 7.

In addition, Craig said, the city will offer retests to the ones who did not clear the agility tests or the written tests “in an effort to pick a few more hires up,” he told Whicker and Hunt. Offering a second test is something the BFD has never done before, Craig said.

The Board of Works Tuesday also approved Police Chief Kyle Randall’s request to hire Logan House to fill a vacancy on the Police Department’s roster. House is a Norwell High School graduate and attended Ball State University. He had briefly worked with the Indiana State Police and the Indiana State Excise Police.

House will need to complete the basic course at the Indiana Law Enforcement Academy and the BPD’s internal training program.

Randall said House’s starting date with the department has yet to be determined.

daves@news-banner.com

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