BENTONVILLE — Eleven Fire Department employees were promoted Monday at a ceremony.
The amount of promotions at one time was unprecedented for the department, Chief Brent Boydston said. The department expects to promote another three employees by the end of the year, he said.
“That’s 14 in about a year, which has never been done in the Bentonville Fire Department,” Boydston said.
The Fire Department reorganized at the end of last year to help accommodate growth that will come when Station No. 6 opens in the fall.
At A Glance
Fire Department Promotions
The Bentonville Fire Department promoted 11 employees Monday. Those promoted and their length of time with the department are as follows:
A Shift Deputy Chief Curtis Sharp, 24 years, 6 months
B Shift Deputy Chief Kevin Boydston, 28 years
C Shift Deputy Chief Larry Horton, 31 years, 3 months
A Shift Battalion Chief Justin Scantlin, 15 years, 5 months
B Shift Battalion Chief Marcus Williams, 17 years, 8 months
C Shift Battalion Chief Jeremy Metcalf, 12 years, 7 months
A Shift Captain Joey Bequette, 5 years, 9 months
A Shift Captain Joel Freemster, 12 years, 11 months
A Shift Captain Randall Nelson, 13 years, 2 months
B Shift Captain Justin Cavness, 14 years
B Shift Captain Matt Perkins, 11 years, 2 months
Source: Bentonville Fire Department
The station will be located on Southwest I Street, north of the intersection with Southwest Regional Airport Boulevard.
The reorganization included promoting the pre-existing battalion chiefs to deputy chiefs, promoting three captains to battalion chiefs, and two more captains retired leaving two open positions, Boydston said. There will be three captain spots available when Station No. 6 opens.
Justin Scantlin was promoted to battalion chief during the ceremony. He’s a third generation firefighter and was accompanied by his father, mother, wife and son.
His dad, Tom, served on the Bentonville Fire Department for 11 years from 1994 to 2005. Justin said his dad influenced him to become a firefighter.
“I used to go to fires with him when I was a kid out in the country,” Justin said. “I was 12 years old running around with him. It was OK back then to do, but not so much nowadays,” he laughed.
Mayor Bob McCaslin told the promotees and their families he believes the Fire Department has the “premier team in the state of Arkansas” and that it’s going to grow by adding nine more members when Station No. 6 opens.
“The future of this city and the future of this department is very bright, and I’m proud to say that we have a great group of professional firefighters,” McCaslin said.