Sean Jones
The Progress-Index
（MCT）
彼得斯堡 - 彼得斯堡消防和救援公司已聘请了其近250年历史上的第一任女子消防局长。蒂娜·R·沃特金斯（Tina R. Watkins）酋长在临时领导人指导彼得斯堡消防局的多年后，将永久接管。
Watkins began her career as a firefighter. For the past 11 years, she has been a Battalion Chief for Richmond Fire and Emergency Services where she supervised five stations and six fire companies.
She earned a Master’s degree in Leadership with an emphasis in Emergency Management and Executive Fire Leadership and a Bachelor of Science degree in Public Safety and Business Administration. She holds professional certifications through FEMA, the National Fire Academy, and the Virginia State Fire Program.
“Ms. Watkins has a proven track record serving in leadership roles with Richmond Fire and Emergency Services since 1988,” said City Manager Stuart Turille. “She rose to the top as the best qualified candidate for the position of Fire Chief in Petersburg.”
她在防火危险材料，国家消防人员和指挥官，紧急计划和有效沟通等领域拥有许多专业发展认证。她还进行了火灾调查培训和消防公共信息服务。
“Not only does Ms. Watkins have extensive experience in fire administration and field operations, she is a seasoned professional in budget management, enforcement of regulations, policies and procedures development needed to effective lead Petersburg Fire-Rescue with over 75 members and a $4 million dollar budget,” said Deputy City Manager Tangela Innis.
根据这座城市的“广泛搜索”，沃特金斯被选中。她是从13名候选人的池中选出的，她的起薪为110,000美元。她的第一天工作于2020年1月31日开始。
“I am committed to providing unparalleled leadership and customer service to the citizens of Petersburg,” said Tina Watkins in a press release. “Developing fire safety community programs and supporting on-going professional development and training for all firefighters and rescue personnel is my goal. I will work to secure new fire equipment needed to better protect the city.”
Petersburg’s last full-time Fire Chief was Dennis Ruben who left in 2018 after only a year at the helm. He was preceded by, and replaced with interim options. Kenneth Miller later presided over Fire and Rescue as the Director of Public Safety after his elevation from Chief of Police. A former Newport News Fire Chief, Scott Liebold, was appointed as another interim leader after Miller’s retirement.
沃特金斯（Watkins）的永久雇用受到前彼得斯堡消防元帅的称赞，她说她有力量向一个多年来缺乏领导能力的部门带来责任感。
马洛·琼斯（Marlow Jones）于2018年离开这座城市，担任弗吉尼亚州的副消防元帅。他还仍然是该市的居民，并竞选市议会。他在2000年代初期仅是一名新兵时，首次与沃特金斯（Watkins）见面，参加了里士满的沃特金斯（Watkins）领导的培训。
“当我遇到她时，她是一件正确的礼服女士。她很认真。她说的一切，她没有玩。”琼斯说。“她指挥纪律和问责制。我认为您也无法将羊毛拉到她的眼睛上，因为她一直在身边。”
The department hasn’t been without its challenges.Fire Station 4 was abruptly closed in 2020.没有给出封闭的消防员的解释，但告诉他们他们希望在周末清除建筑物，家具，家具，硬件。后来将霉菌损坏和预计的Covid-19收入短缺作为关闭的原因，但消防倡导者表示，这种情况与员工交流不佳。此后，该车站在翻新后重新开放。
Just this month, a local resident called Fire and Rescue asking if there were any smoke detectors for their elderly neighbor. The department told that resident that it didn’t have any, and had been out of smoke detectors since the beginning of the pandemic. Firefighters did eventually bring smoke detectors to that house, although they had to buy the detectors themselves, according to the resident. New detectors have since arrived in the city with more on order.
“When there’s a lack of leadership, then there’s a lack of accountability on the other end,” Jones said.
琼斯还鼓掌沃特金斯的背景领先的消防员在一个较大的城市中。
琼斯说：“在里士满的酋长几乎就像是在纽约成为一个，这是一个大城市，有大火，高层，类似的东西。”“她知道检查的重要性，调查的重要性和消防员士气的重要性。”
You can reach Sean Jones atsjones@progress-index.com。Follow him at@seanjones_pi。在Twitter上关注Twitter的进度指数@ProgressIndex。
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