The Unified Government today announced that Mike Callahan of Chicago will be the new Kansas City, Kansas, fire chief.
Callahan, 60, is deputy fire commissioner of the 5,000-employee Chicago Fire Department, and a 40-year veteran of that department, starting in 1980 as a firefighter, according to UG officials. For the past nine years, he has been the deputy fire commissioner in Chicago.
After a national search, Callahan was selected by UG Administrator Doug Bach from six finalists, including two finalists from the Kansas City, Kansas, Fire Department. The six finalists were introduced at a UG meeting on June 14, and included Jack Andrade, senior assistant chief of logistics, and John Droppelmann, fire marshal, both from the Kansas City, Kansas, Fire Department. Andrade served as acting fire chief for the past few weeks, after the retirement of interim fire chief Kevin Shirley on July 12.
“From what I have observed, the recruitment, assessment and selection process has been fair, systematic and rigorous, and brought forward six qualified candidates,” Mayor David Alvey said at a news conference today.
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