There's a new fire chief in town.
Howard Bailey officially begun his leadership at the Ormond Beach Fire Department on Monday, Aug. 1. As the former chief of Volusia County Fire Rescue, an agency he spent the last 30 years working for, he already knows the city well. And he said he's looking forward to learning more, and getting closer to the community thanks to the department's smaller size. Volusia County has 21 fire stations; Ormond has four.
"In my mind, I'm going from the best county to the best city," Bailey said. "... I have the opportunity, with that reduction in size, to do more for the workforce and more for the community.
Bailey began his career in fire service in 1989 as a volunteer firefighter with the Palm Coast Fire Department.