Randy Snyder appointed fire chief

Commissioners appointed Randy Snyder as Pike County fire chief at the Tuesday, May 28 meeting. He has served as deputy chief of operations for Pike County Emergency Services since September 2009. He has also served as interim fire chief. Snyder started volunteering as a firefighter in the county at age 19 and worked his way up to become chief of the Zebulon fire department before Pike emergency services became countywide. ’We’re honored and proud that you’ve accepted this post,’ said commissioner Tommy Powers. ‘We appreciate you stepping up to the plate and all the volunteers who head each department. They really shoulder a lot of responsibility and a large work load. The citizens are very fortunate.’Chief Snyder said he plans to appoint firefighter Mike Singleton as deputy chief. Singleton was formerly Pike County’s EMA director and has more than 20 years firefighting experience. Singleton is a lieutenant with Fayette County fire and rescue. ’We’re very fortunate he decided to come back to Pike County and volunteer as a firefighter,’ said Snyder. ‘By making him deputy chief, I won’t have to shuffle all of the officers to appoint someone. He has the knowledge and experience needed.’Snyder noted some changes over the past couple years, including digitizing all reports so they are always available, creating policies and guidelines, holding regular workshops, providing and managing a website and social media sites and bringing various equipment into compliance with state and federal regulations.’We’re about to go live with a program to go into local businesses with a fire safety program to learn about hazards faced there and collect contact information. It’s a common practice but we’ve never had the program here,’ Snyder said. ‘I plan to accomplish a number of things, everything from improving morale to the possibility of having another ISO inspection in the county.’For more information, go to pikeemergencyservices.com or find the Pike County Emergency Services page on facebook.