FREDERICKTOWN — The Fredericktown Community Fire District has hired Douglas Neighbarger as its new fire chief.
Former Fire Chief Scott Mast led the department for 36 years, setting a record for the longest tenure in department history. He retired April 18, on his 60th birthday.
The Fredericktown Fire Board chose Neighbarger as Mast’s successor April 19.
Before coming to Knox County, Neighbarger served as a firefighter for the Army National Guard. He hasn’t looked back.
“Transition about 23-24 years later, here I am,” Neighbarger said.
Neighbarger was previously a member of the Whitehall Division of Fire in Columbus for 20 years. He recently moved back to Mount Vernon upon accepting the fire chief position.
“I lived in Fredericktown for 15 to 16 years … I still have family here in Fredericktown, a lot of friends, and when the position opened up, I had multiple people reach out to me and wanted me to put in for it,” Neighbarger said.
“They knew I would have a positive effect on the area and the department.”
His experience working in the suburbs of a city like Columbus has allowed Neighbarger to bring a fresh perspective to FCFD.
“I come from a busier, more progressive department in Franklin County, so I bring a completely different skill set than what was previously here,” Neighbarger said.
During his tenure, Neighbarger hopes to guide FCFD into the modern era. His first step was to implement direct access to the Computer Aided Dispatch system used by the 911 call center in each firetruck.
CAD bypasses the need for radio calls and supplies GPS mapping to an emergency. It also allows firefighters to input information directly into the system while still on scene. Each truck now has an iPad connected to CAD.
“It’s just the way of the world. Everything is digital now, and everything moves at a fast pace,” Neighbarger said. “Previously, it might take days or weeks to get a run entered into the system.
“Well, once we’re fully integrated … it will be near instantaneous.”
CAD also provides access to information loaded within the system. This includes schools and businesses.
“In the event of an emergency, we can click a little button, and it pops up and it shows where the fire hydrants are at, where the alarm panel is at … having that technology makes sense,” Neighbarger said.
Neighbarger sees the adoption of the CAD system as the FCFD’s first step toward joining the modern era. But this isn’t his only goal as chief. Also among his priorities is bringing in new volunteers.
Nationally, volunteer numbers for firefighting is on the decline, according to Neighbarger. To incentivize younger generations to become involved, FCFD has created a fire cadet program.
The program targets local high schoolers by visiting classrooms and explaining what the FCFD does and the importance of volunteers.
Five to 10 cadets join the program each year. Typically, a couple end up becoming firefighters.
“Fredericktown has been very lucky that they still have a strong volunteer base … but planning for the future is going to continue into the future, and maybe we need to look at a different delivery model to be able to serve the community the best that we can,” Neighbarger said.
In the two months since becoming fire chief, Neighbarger has laid the groundwork for a push into the modern era.
