Alfred Ford Appointed Interim Freeport Fire Chief

Marty Bowden

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Posted by: Marty Bowden
martybowden7@gmail.com
334-248-1584
Date: Jul 08 2012 10:50 PM

For Immediate Release

July 6, 2012

After a meeting this morning between the Walton County Sheriff’s Office and the mayor of Freeport, the move was made to make Alfred Ford the Interim Fire Chief of Freeport.  Chief Ford will be responsible for all operational fire duties while Chief Ben Greenslait will be responsible for administrative issues.  Rumors have been spreading that deputies were going to be sent in to take over the position of the Chief; however, the WCSO states that this is not the case.

 

“The Walton County Sheriff’s Office Division of Emergency Management is fortunate to have two extremely well-qualified firefighters on staff.  We are pleased that their services can fulfill a temporary need for the citizens of Freeport and Walton County,” said Major Joe Preston, Director of Support Services and Emergency Management.

 

Chief Ford has been in the business of firefighting since 1977, when he first worked as a volunteer firefighter with the Hillsborough County Fire Rescue.  He has worked at various other fire departments throughout the state since then and has served as the fire chief at the Parker Fire Department in Parker, FL for 3 years and the Battalion Fire Chief with Bay County Fire Rescue for nearly 6 years.  In his role of Battalion Chief for Bay County, he has supervised and commanded 45 fire personnel, 6 fire stations and attended to budget needs.  Chief Ford was also deployed to Pass Christian, MS to assist in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.  He has also worked as a Private Fire Investigator for 3 years.  He has served as an Adjunct Instructor in both fire standards and incident command courses with Gulf Coast Community College in Panama City, FL and Texas A&M in College Station, TX.

 

Chief Ford’s education is steeped in firefighting and fire technology.  He graduated from Florida State Fire College and has studied courses such as firefighting, fire instructor, fire officer I and II, HazMat Tech, and Radiological Monitoring.  He has an Associates of Science in Fire Technology from Gulf Coast Community College.  Chief Ford has numerous certifications in the field of firefighting and he has served on Okaloosa and Bay County HazMat teams and is a member of the state regional arson task force.

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