FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

FIRE CHIEF TO STEP DOWN AFTER EIGHT YEARS OF SERVICE

Ken Jones to continue with the City as Emergency Management Coordinator

Fire Chief Ken Jones is stepping down from his position effective June 30, 2010, to take over as the City’s Coordinator of Emergency Management. Newport News City Manager Neil Morgan has named Deputy Fire Chief Scott Liebold Acting Fire Chief effective July 1.

After serving as Newport News Fire Chief for over eight years, Ken Jones is stepping down from his position effective June 30, 2010, to take over as the City’s Coordinator of Emergency Management. Newport News City Manager Neil Morgan has named Deputy Fire Chief Scott Liebold Acting Fire Chief effective July 1.

“Ken Jones has served admirably as our Fire Chief,” said Morgan. “While he is ready to step down from his position, I am very pleased that he still wants to continue to contribute to the City and lead our emergency management division.”

“I am looking forward to this new season in my career,” said Jones. “I have enjoyed serving as Fire Chief and I am humbled to have had the opportunity to lead such a highly motivated and trained organization.”

Chief Jones has had a 42 year career in fire service. In his time as Newport News Fire Chief, he has had several notable accomplishments including: the Department achieving national accreditation through the Center for Public Safety Excellence; developing a strategic plan that involved all employees; working with other City departments to achieve a reduction on the City’s Insurance Services Office (ISO) rating from a 3 to a 2, which recognizes an improvement in the City’s commitment to fire safety and its ability to support a safe community; and improving safety by utilizing federal grants to equip all front line fire and EMS units with Mobile Data Computers and equip all fire stations with an effective means for removing harmful diesel smoke emitted by fire and EMS units. In addition, Chief Jones was effective in obtaining funding support from the Department of Homeland Security, the Virginia Port Authority and the Virginia Department of Fire Programs in order to place in service a state of the art fireboat, the Carl Brashear, to protect the citizens and property along the James River. To improve the safety of firefighters and the public in dealing with a fire in a tunnel, Chief Jones again took the lead in working with all three levels of government in improving tunnel firefighting capabilities for the Hampton Roads region by securing specialized robotic firefighting equipment.

The City’s Emergency Management function was assigned to the Fire Chief last year and since that time Chief Jones has spent a significant amount of time obtaining the appropriate certifications required by the state for local emergency management coordinators. In his new civilian position as Coordinator of Emergency Management, Ken Jones will continue to work on upgrading the City’s emergency response operations to bring them in line with federal standards associated with the National Incident Management System (NIMS).

Deputy Chief Scott Liebold, who will serve as Acting Fire Chief effective July 1, has been with the City of Newport News for almost 28 years, starting as a firefighter and progressing through every rank throughout his career. He has served as Deputy Fire Chief since 2005. Liebold holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Christopher Newport University and has completed two graduate programs – one in Local Government Management through Virginia Tech and one in Public Safety Leadership/Public Management through Christopher Newport University.

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