Emily Hamer
The Wisconsin State Journal
(MCT)
Feb. 19—Four candidates have been selected as finalists for the position of Madison fire chief, the city’s Police and Fire Commission announced Friday.
All of the candidates are Madison residents who have served on the Madison Fire Department in some capacity. Three are men, and one is a woman of color.
The four finalists are are: Scott Bavery, Tracy Burrus, Chris Carbon and Ted Higgins.
Their selection comes after a three-month search and interview process, the first national search for the position since 1996. Despite the search being national, all candidates have strong ties to Madison.
Madison Fire Chief Steven Davis announced in October that he would be retiring April 1, ending a career of more than three decades with the Madison Fire Department. The fire chief position was posted in mid-November with an application deadline of Dec. 15.
Many of the candidates have similar credentials to Davis, who served as a firefighter, paramedic, training officer, lieutenant and division chief before being appointed fire chief in 2012.
Bavery is a Madison native and the department’s current assistant fire chief. In its announcement of the finalists, the commission describes Bavery as having “a reputation as a transformational leader who is driven by challenge.”
Burrus moved to Madison in 2001 and has served in a variety of positions at the department, including assistant chief of personnel, division chief of training, fire lieutenant, training officer, firefighter, EMT and apparatus engineer. She is also a U.S. Army veteran.
Burrus started her firefighting career in 1995 in Macomb, Illinois. She has a bachelor’s degree in sociology and psychology from Western Illinois University.
Carbon, who describes himself as a “lifelong Madisonian,” has been with the Fire Department since 1999 in roles including firefighter, paramedic, lieutenant and training officer. He’s currently the division chief overseeing Emergency Medical Services Training and Logistics and has been “heavily involved” in community paramedicine, the commission said. He graduated from UW-Madison with a bachelor of science.
Higgins is a Madison resident and 19-year veteran of the Fire Department. He is currently a lieutenant and principal officer for the International Association of Fire Fighters, Local 311, a union where he has built partnerships with other Dane County fire and EMS agencies.
Higgins got his bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Notre Dame and is also a graduate of a paramedicine program at Malcolm X College in Chicago.
Beyond credentials, the four finalists will share their vision for being Madison’s next fire chief in video presentations that will be released to the public in early March.
The Police and Fire Commission plans to conduct final interviews March 8. That process will include candidates recording a 15-minute “community presentation” video, which will be released for residents after the interviews.
The public is invited to comment on the finalists at the commission’s March 14 meeting or send their comments via email topfc@cityofmadison.com.
The commission plans to deliberate in special meetings from March 11 to 18 and has previously said it would announce its pick on March 18.
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