(Washington, D.C) – Today, DC Fire & EMS Chief Gregory Dean announced that he is upgrading key positions focused on employee safety as part of ongoing efforts to protect the health and well-being of Department employees.

“There is nothing more important than the safety of our members,” Chief Dean said. “These changes are intended to bring even more focus and expertise to this issue so that we can ultimately decrease accidents and improve our employees’ overall well-being. I thank our current members assigned to these positions who have done an admirable job. Our decision to upgrade these positions is meant to bring a higher focus on safety with well-respected senior members leading with their experience.”

The position of Safety Officer, which is tasked with investigating and preventing accidents and other incidents that result in injury to employees or property damage, will now be held by Battalion Fire Chiefs (BFCs). This position is currently held by Captains. The new BFC Safety Officer positions will be filled by BFCs Sean Egan, Michael Knight, Edward Rice and Chris Sefton. In addition, the Department’s most senior member assigned to the Police and Fire Clinic, which oversees the Department’s Health and Wellness program, will now be a Deputy Fire Chief, rather than a Battalion Fire Chief. BFC Michael Donlon will be promoted into this position.

In addition, the Recruitment Officer position will be upgraded from a Captain to a Battalion Fire Chief. This new position will be filled by BFC Willis Thomas, who will continue the Department’s aggressive efforts at hiring new cadets, Firefighter EMTs and Firefighter Paramedics.

BFC Juan Carter will replace BFC Michael Knight at the Training Academy. BFC Carter brings vast operational and training experience to his new role. The five vacancies that will be created by the new positions will be filled with the promotions of the following Captains to the rank of BFC: Gerald Carroll, Brian David, Michael Dolby, Jon Grover, and Edward Kaufmann.

“These promotions and reassignments are opportunities for our many strong leaders to keep the Department moving forward,” added Chief Dean.

All of the promotions and reassignments take effect on September 17, 2017.