2 years, 9 months ago by Scott Hardy
24-year veteran takes over Saturday for retiring Chief Joe Henning
The Quincy City Council has approved the selection of the city's new Fire Chief. Scott Hardy has more.
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Monday night, the City Council approved the selection of Assistant Chief Bernard "Bernie" Vahlkamp to replace retiring Chief Joe Henning. His last day is Friday. Vahlkamp was one of four finalists for the job, and he was selected last Friday by the City's Police and Fire Commission. They had met earlier that week with the finalists, before nominating Vahlkamp. He's been with the Fire Department since 1997. After the meeting, Vahlkamp said he's excited about becoming Chief
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Vahlkamp says he'll work closely with Chief Henning this week, and then once he starts, his first order of business will be to hire new firefighters.
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Vahlkamp says he hopes to be able to get the Department fully staffed within the next few years. The Council approved Mayor Mike Troup's nomination of Seventh Ward Alderman Ben Uzelac and Quincy Police Chief Rob Copley to 3-year terms on the City/County Joint Emergency Telephone Systems Board. They also learned that after next week, they won't be able to attend meetings remotely via Zoom. That's because an executive order, signed by Governor JB Pritzker which allowed the practice during the pandemic, is set to expire.
