The Petal Fire Department has seen some transition over the past couple of months, beginning with the retirement of longtime chief Joe Hendry and the Petal Board of Aldermen recently approving former assistant chief Marion Sims as his replacement.
The latest measure in those changes came at the July 2 board meeting, where aldermen named Will Lewis as the department’s new assistant chief to take over in Sims’ former role. Lewis begins his new role July 10 at an annual salary of $58,000.
“I’m honored to be selected, and I’m hopeful that I can do a good job,” Lewis said. “So I’m excited about it.
“It was a surprise – we had a lengthy promotional process, where we had to do interviews and some testing and stuff like that. It wasn’t a sure thing.”
Lewis graduated from Pope John Paul II Catholic High School in Slidell, Louisiana in 2001. He then attended the Louisiana State University Fire Academy before transferring to the Hattiesburg Fire Department, where he worked until 2018.
At that point, he began his career at the Petal Fire Department.
“I’m a second-generation firefighter; my dad was in the fire service, and I just kind of caught the bug, Lewis said. “I enjoy it, and it’s been a journey.”
Lewis said he looks forward to helping move the department forward under Sims’ leadership.
“(I’ll do) anything I can to do that,” he said. “I’m a big proponent of clean turnout gear and having good (personal protective equipment) for the guys.
“I’m a big fan of that, and I’m going to work on improving that for the department. It will be a priority of mine.”
Lewis enjoys the job, in part, because of the variety it offers.
“It’s different every day,” he said. “It’s a fun, rewarding job, and I enjoy it.
“I get to do a bunch of neat things. One day you can be riding on a boat, or the next day you’re hanging off a building from a rope, or you’re underground. There’s never a dull day.”
