By By Adrienne McKenzie
Mike Staples has been delegated as second-in-command at Atmore Fire Department.
Fire chief Gerry McGhee said the Atmore City Council gave him the authority to promote Staples as Atmore Fire Department assistant chief at the last city council meeting.
"He (Staples) has been with me for 25 years," McGhee said. "The council gave me the OK to promote him at the last meeting. I decided to appoint Cpt. Mike Staples as assistant chief."
Staples said he was thrilled to be appointed as assistant chief.
"I was excited and very thankful that the city council and city had confidence in me," he said. "I am going to give it 110 percent. I feel honored to have been considered."
McGhee said Staples will be assisting him with paperwork and when he is out of town.
"He'll be helping make schedules and putting reports in the computer," McGhee said. "He'll go to straight days. He'll answer calls at night and he'll catch the calls when I'm out of town."
Staples said he's also going to help with training at the department.
"I am helping to set up a training," Staples said. "In the near future we will start using the NIMS (National Incident Management System). We will start to implement that. I've done a lot of computer and paperwork."
McGhee said he needed an assistant chief because of the growth at the Atmore Fire Department and he felt Staples was the right man for the job.
"I was having to do a lot of paperwork," McGhee said. "When I first got here I had about nine men. Now I have about 19 employees. Now the assistant chief will help me do the training safety and training for the department. It frees me a little bit more for other things. It was a good move to appoint an assistant chief. I felt he (Staples) was well qualified for the job and everybody can work with him."
McGhee said Staples is well-known in the Atmore community and that promoting him to be his helping hands was a great move.
"This is good for the city," McGhee said. "Everybody in the city knows him. I feel this is a really good move for the city and the department."