UPDATED 1:58 P.M.
PEORIA, Ill. – Peoria’s Fire Chief is set to call it a career.
Chief Jim Bachman says he’ll retire March 18th after 28 years in the department, and only the last year as chief.
Quite a challenging year as chief, at that.
“I can tell you the challenges of COVID were just that, some pretty significant challenges,” said Bachman. “It’s pretty rewarding; but, at the same time, it’s been challenging, for sure.”
That’s in addition to the difficult decisions regarding the temporary closure of a fire engine company that’s now back up and running, due in part to the city’s budget situation.
Speaking of COVID, the chief says he does still have a few employees out because of that, but nowhere near at the numbers of the last couple months.
He’s only been fire chief since last year when Tony Ardis retired, but he’s been with the department since 1994.
“[Becoming fire chief] really wasn’t on my radar,” said Bachman, “especially, probably, not even in the first fifteen or 20 years where that was something where this was a position where I would end up.”
Bachman describes the experience being chief as both “surreal” and a good one. He says while he has thought about retirement and talked about it with his wife, once you know it’s time to retire, you know.
“I want to thank Chief Bachman for his years of service to the residents of Peoria and his leadership of the department during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic,” said Patrick Urich, City Manager, in a news release. “His experience serving in many divisions provided him with comprehensive expertise of the Fire Department.”
No word yet on a replacement, but city administrators will be tasked with making that decision. They say a “national search” will commence.
