Hamblin county’s first fire chief

The County of Pulaski, Virginia officially names Brandon Hamblin as the first career Fire Chief to oversee the recently established Pulaski County Fire Department. As part of a multifaceted plan to provide the volunteer fire departments in the County with greater support and resources, the FY-25 County Budget allocated the funding to hire the first Chief of Fire-Rescue for Pulaski County, along with two additional full-time fire fighters required to augment existing staff needed to establish a fully functioning department to help provide fire-rescue coverage during the days and times of week where the community experiences challenges with higher response demand.

“Pulaski County is excited to welcome Chief Hamblin into this position and to work with him and our talented career and volunteer firefighters to continue to develop and support stronger fire-rescue response capabilities”, stated Jonathan D. Sweet, County Administrator. “This position will be vitally important to oversee our newly established paid department and to ensure we provide proper training and resources to our volunteer system in order to sustainably deliver the safest and best fire-rescue response to our citizens.”

The decision to establish a paid fire-rescue department and ultimately hire a Chief to oversee it came as a recommendation from the County’s Change Agent, Chris Gannon, who was contracted to develop and help implement a plan of action from recommendations received within the two (2) independent studies completed in 2022 that were conducted by the State’s Department of Fire Programs and Gannon Emergency Solutions.

“The Board of Supervisors continues with our priority to advance the recommendations from our two comprehensive studies that were focused on filling in the gaps in our fire- rescue response, and hiring a Fire Chief to lead our newly established Fire Department is another step toward achieving our priority”, stated Laura Walters, Chair of the Board of Supervisors. “We trust the knowledge, experience and care for the community Chief Hamblin brings to this position will help the County to quickly and effectively stabilize, evolve and scale our fire-rescue response.”

Hamblin takes office on July 16, 2024. His position as Chief will operate as the department head for the new department and provide the oversight for all fire/rescue activities conducted by the six (6) volunteer fire departments within the County. The County’s creative and resourceful approach to afford and sustain the new paid department included restructuring the County’s existing Squad 9 program to operate as a standalone Fire-Rescue Department. The County is presently hiring three (3) additional professional firefighters to allow for four (4) certified first responders to be on-hand from 7:00 AM-to- 7:00 PM, Monday-through-Friday. The budgeted funding also includes an Administrative Assistant position to serve the newly created department as well as support and interface with Emergency Management and Emergency Medical Services.

“I am honored to have been selected for this position and to serve my community in a different but perhaps more impactful and universal way”, stated Chief Brandon Hamblin, Pulaski County Fire Department. “My vision is consistent with the County’s vision, and that is to not have two separate departments, one paid and one volunteer, but to have one unified department where career staff support volunteers and volunteers support the paid staff, all with the purpose of responding to the fire-rescue needs of the citizens of Pulaski County.”

Chief Hamblin has served the Town of Pulaski Fire Department in various capacities since 2005 as a Firefighter, Fire Lieutenant, EMT, Training Officer and Captain. He previously served the County of Pulaski as the Deputy Emergency Services Coordinator and as a Wildland Firefighter for the Virginia Department of Forestry. Chief Hamblin has an Associate’s Degree in Police Science from New River Community College and holds numerous Fire and EMS Certifications from VDRP, NFA, FEMA, DOH, NRCC, and VPI. He also serves as the Chief of the Newbern Volunteer Fire Department.

The Pulaski County Fire-Rescue Department will also administer fire prevention programming and community education activities. The dedicated funding also includes direct financial support to enhance the volunteer system and allow for volunteer fire fighters to receive necessary training, equipment and technical support. The funding will also include a response stipend provided directly to volunteers to assist them with offsetting expenses associated with their volunteer response. This new benefit is being employed with the hopes of bolstering volunteer recruitment and retention, as these critical personnel are and will remain a vital and necessary component of the County’s emergency first response.