Columbia has selected a new fire chief from Spokane, Washington, to run the department beginning Aug. 19.
Brian Schaeffer, 53, was an assistant fire chief and chief in the Spokane Fire Department for the last 19 years. He retired from that department earlier this year.
Tom Williams, current assistant fire chief of the Spokane Fire Department, said he worked well with Schaeffer when he was head of the department.
"I am happy for Brian," Williams said. "He was my boss for three years, and I worked well with him during that time period. I believe that he will do well in his new role in Columbia."
Schaeffer was chosen from a set of four finalists to replace former Fire Chief Clayton Farr Jr. who retired April 1. Farr had served for 18 months in the position, following Randy White who had been interim chief.
Among the finalists were two members of the Columbia Fire Department and a manager with MU Health Car
Schaeffer was decided over the two finalists due to his ability to modernize and diversify recruitment in the fire department, said Sidney Olsen, Public Communications Manager for the City of Columbia.
"Brian expressed his commitment to increase diversity in recruitment," Olsen said.
"He plans on modernizing the department through different products and artificial intellgence to track the data that shows the fire departments efficiency. To have someone who is willing to work with and improve that process is very important."
During interviews with the media and others in June, Schaeffer said he would bring experience working with a sizeable department to the position in Columbia.
He said he could contribute experience with technologies like artificial intelligence to support firefighters’ efforts and collect data to the job.
Before working in Spokane, Schaeffer was deputy fire chief at the Yakima Fire Department in Washington and deputy fire chief at Yakima Fire District 12. He has graduate degrees in leadership and public administration and a bachelor's degree in fire science.
Finalists for the position included John Ambra, deputy fire chief with the Columbia Police Department; Jeffrey Heidenreich, assistant fire chief in Columbia; and Chuck Doss, pre-hospital services manager at MU Health Care, who has worked as a paramedic and firefighter.
"Brian is bringing valuable experience to this role," City Manager De'Carlon Seewood said in a news release.
The president of the local firefighters union said he was looking forward to Schaeffer coming aboard.
"We are looking forward to Brian getting started, he has a lot of education and experience, and a visionary thought process," said Zack Privette, president of Columbia Professional Firefighters.
"His long history of labor management and working with employees is something we trust that he will do a great job on."
"He has demonstrated his ability to be forward-thinking about priorities and commit to levels of service the Columbia Fire Department continually strives to achieve."
