FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 29, 2019
Contact: Mayor Lioneld Jordan
Office of the Mayor
479-575-8330
mayor@fayetteville-ar.gov
Fayetteville Fire Department Chief David Dayringer to Retire in June
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark.— The City of Fayetteville’s Fire Department Chief, David Dayringer, will retire on June 21 after working almost 40 years in municipal firefighting. The public is invited to a Chief Dayringer’s retirement reception on Monday, June 17, from 2 to 4 p.m. at City Hall (113 W. Mountain St., Room 219 – City Council chambers).
David Dayringer joined the Fayetteville fire department as fire chief in January 2010. He previously served as deputy chief for the Tulsa Fire Department, where he worked for 28 years. Chief Dayringer made significant and varied improvements benefitting the community, internal operations, and firefighting personnel during his 9 1/2 years with the City of Fayetteville.
Upgrading of the City’s Public Protection Classification (PPC) was declared a “momentous achievement” by Chief Dayringer. PPCs are used by insurance companies to calculate premiums for residential, commercial, and industrial properties. The Insurance Service Office (ISO) scores communities on their ability to respond to fires. Chief Dayringer and the fire department worked with several internal departments to upgrade the City from a Class 4 to Class 2 rating in 2014. Fayetteville received the best possible rating, Class 1, in early 2018.
Chief Dayringer was intent on creating opportunities for an existing top-notch team of firefighters, fire marshals, administrators, and educators. Shortly after being hired, Dayringer changed procedures for female firefighters, creating inclusive roles and duties during pregnancy. He established a Labor/Management Cooperation Committee with the local firefighters union and included formal college education as a requirement for promotion in the Civil Service Regulations. For recruiting, he switched to the National Testing Network and Candidate Physical Ability Test to publicize Fayetteville employment opportunities across the country and attract diverse candidates.
Chief Dayringer updated Fayetteville’s Emergency Operations Plan and initiated quarterly training exercises for the Emergency Operations Team, which is composed of staff from all departments and divisions. He was also able to establish a permanent, full-time financial analyst position in the fire department with additional focus on securing grants.
Under Chief Dayringer’s leadership, the fire department has received numerous grants including $1,033,894 from the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Assistance to Firefighters Grants Program. The grants allowed FFD to purchase wildland firefighting gear, specialized washers and dryers that remove carcinogens from gear, lighting equipment, and a system to refill breathing air tanks while on the scene of a fire. In 2016, grant funds were used to build a training simulator in southeast Fayetteville. The facility is six stories tall with more than 7,000 square feet of working floor space. It provides a safe and secure environment for firefighters from the entire region to practice a wide range of skills.
During his tenure, Chief Dayringer continually evaluated Fayetteville’s population and building growth to maximize resources and ensure timely response. As a result, Dayringer and the fire department created a $15+ million voter-approved bond package to keep pace with the City’s growth. This bond will finance three additional fire houses, two fire engines, and a ladder truck. Using existing personnel, combined with new fire houses and apparatus, the department will be able to continue meeting the industry standard of responding to 90% of calls within six minutes.
“In 2010, I was looking for a fire chief candidate who could fulfill three goals: to take the department to the next level, to take a leadership role in the region and the state, and to develop the skills of those within the chain of command,” said Mayor Lioneld Jordan. “I am proud to say that Chief Dayringer has done so, above and beyond even my expectations. The mark of a great leader is to develop other leaders. With Chief Dayringer, the job has never been about his own agenda, but about our City’s agenda, which is to make our fire department the best it can possibly be. David Dayringer is one of the humblest people I have ever met. He is a genuine example of a true servant leader. I am proud to have been able to work with him.”
In addition to higher education degrees, David Dayringer is also a graduate of the National Fire Academy Executive Fire Officer Program and a Chief Fire Officer Designate from the Commission on Professional Credentialing. He is a member in the Institution of Fire Engineers and is a National Registry Emergency Medical Technician. Recently he served as Chairman of the Washington County Regional Ambulance Authority, Chairman of the Arkansas Fire Protection Services Board and represented the Arkansas Association of Fire Chiefs on the Southwestern Division Board of the International Association of Fire Chiefs. He served as President of the Northwest Arkansas Metropolitan Fire Chiefs Association from 2013 to 2018.
Mayor Lioneld Jordan will appoint Asst. Fire Chief Brad Hardin to serve as interim chief beginning June 22. Learn more about the Fayetteville Fire Department, including how to become a firefighter, at www.fayetteville-ar.gov/fire.
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