The city took a step at stabilizing one of its most important institutions several weeks ago when they hired Dennis Rubin as fire chief. Rubin takes over from interim Fire Chief Brian Sturdivant, who will remain with the department. Rubin has extensive experience as a fire chief in Atlanta, Washington D.C., and also worked in Chesterfield for 10 years earlier in his career. Rubin hopes that he can use his experiences in those localities to help improve the Petersburg department.
“I think it’s a great opportunity,” said Rubin. “[Petersburg] is a renaissance city, and I’d love to be a part of that.” The problems the department have experienced have been well-documented.