NLR fire chief choice boasts 32 years in field

James E. Murphy, of Melbourne, FL, 

North Little Rock's new Fire Chief.
James E. Murphy, of Melbourne, FL, North Little Rock's new Fire Chief.

Jim Murphy, a fire service consultant and international trainer for incident management, will be North Little Rock's new fire chief starting Aug. 4, Mayor Joe Smith said Friday.

Murphy, 62, of Melbourne Beach, Fla., is a 32-year veteran of fire service, including 25 years as a firefighter, paramedic, chief flight medic and then incident command school training officer for Florida's Orange County Fire Rescue Department.

After retiring from the Orange County Fire Rescue Department, Murphy began his consulting company in 2007. National Incident Management System Tactical Simulations consults and offers instruction on topics such as crisis management, safety and incident response.

His salary as North Little Rock fire chief will be $95,194 annually. Former Fire Chief Robert Mauldin retired effective July 1 after more than five years as chief and 32 years total with the city's Fire Department.

"He's very well respected in his field and is an in-demand trainer and consultant," Smith said of Murphy. "He's certainly a professional. He has the knowledge and the communication skills, and he has the experience."

Murphy, who had a formal interview and tour of North Little Rock on Wednesday, said in an interview from his Florida home Friday that he "fell in love" with North Little Rock, its people, its hospitality and its potential.

"I actually had taught a [fire services] class there many years ago and made some friends there," Murphy said, adding that the city put him through a "rigorous" interview process. "When I took a city tour, everyone I met was warm and friendly and just had that Southern hospitality, and I fell in love with it. The research I did about the city and its school system told me that they are technologically ahead of a lot of communities.

"I had been interviewed for other jobs and offered other jobs. The thing that impressed me the most, other than the city itself and its people, was the integrity of the mayor wanting to pick the right person for the job."

North Little Rock received 13 qualified applicants for the position that was advertised nationally, Smith said. Four were interviewed, including North Little Rock Battalion Chief Phil Pounders. The others were Roland Williams of Rogers and Peter Smith of Frankfort, Ill.

Murphy was interviewed twice, the first coming at an informal lunch meeting at a Melbourne Beach restaurant while Smith was on vacation in late June.

"I liked him when we met while I was down there," Smith said. "Once he got up here and we started asking the real questions, he stood head over heels above everybody else."

Murphy remembered that he and Smith "hit it off well" in that first meeting.

"We seemed to be on the same page as far as core values and dedication to public service," Murphy said. "I feel like I was called to be a public servant. This is my passion. I think the mayor feels the same way."

Smith said that before beginning his search he used every type of contact -- professional acquaintances, staff members, friends and former colleagues -- to find the right hire and also asked for input from local firefighter union members.

"I wanted to know what they wanted," said Smith, referring to the firefighters union. "I took some pretty good notes. They certainly wanted someone that they could count on to have a vision for the department's future needs and someone who was a good listener and was a professional.

"Jim fills the bill on all of those."

Murphy said that Smith wants to make improving fire equipment, training and response times a priority.

"He made it crystal clear to me that we want rapid response times, and we want state-of-the art fire training to take it to the next level," Murphy said.

City officials recently have completed an in-house analysis of its Fire Department services, including station locations, response times and equipment condition. City aldermen had requested in April that an independent analysis be done on fire response times after residents in the farthest eastern neighborhoods complained about city budgetary issues keeping a planned fire station from being built in their area.

Legislation will be submitted for the council's meeting July 28, Smith said, to consider hiring TriData Division, System Planning Corporation of Arlington, Va., for an independent fire response analysis at a cost of $31,315. That company's proposal cost the least of the five submitted to the city. All of the proposals were from out-of-state companies.

"I'm going to tell them [aldermen] I think we've done a pretty good in-house study," Smith said. "If they still want it [an outside analysis], we'll go for it."

Smith added that updating and replacing fire equipment is a city priority. One firetruck is a 1975 model, and a rescue unit vehicle recently had to have its fuel pump primed before it would start, Smith said.

"That's unacceptable," Smith said. "Our equipment is in horrendous shape. We have got to analyze our needs and come up with some sort of plan to start replacing our antiquated equipment."

Metro on 07/19/2014

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