Two hired to fill county fire training position

The Dyer County Fire Committee chose two part-time training officers out of five possible applicants at a called meeting in the lower-level conference room at the Courthouse on Thursday morning.

John Doyle and Barry Scobey were chosen to take the next step in the employment process after committee members and Dyer County Fire Chief James Medling reviewed all of the applications.

The job opportunity is for a part-time position approved by the County Court this year paying a salary of $16,000 per year for approximately a 15-hour workweek. The employee's first responsibility would be as a training officer, with extra time devoted to helping Medling with the paperwork associated with grant applications.

Committee members began the meeting in search of one candidate, but decided that two applicants were equally matched for the job.

"John's got a little more beef on his resume on the fire side and Barry has a little more on the medical side," said Medling. "Either one of these folks would do a good job. Each specializes in a different field. One job's as important as the other."

Both applicants currently have jobs that will allow them to devote daytime hours to paperwork and training for third-shift volunteers, and have excelled in the field that they are working in.

Commissioner Steve Walker asked the chief's recommendation for the position.

"You woke up this morning and said, 'I wish they would hire ...' who?" said Walker.

"I didn't," said Medling. "You've got some very good resumes. These are good folks. There is nothing wrong with the other three candidates. I want to make that clear."

"It looks like we are quite fortunate that we have several good applications with backgrounds in various areas," said chairman David Agee.

County Commissioner Alan Burchfield suggested hiring both Doyle and Scobey to share the position and also recommended a trial period for the arrangement.

"My vision would be to swap out the same work one month at a time," said Medling. "One does it one month, the other has that month off. With nine fire departments, you can wear someone out pretty quick."

Committee members agreed that offering the job to both applicants would be wise and authorized Medling to use his discretion on the situation and make adjustments if needed.

"Be brave about the thing and do what you've got to do if you are not satisfied," said Burchfield.

"Having both would make the transition easier if you decided one doesn't work out," said Commissioner John Uitendaal.

Burchfield made the motion to instruct Medling to offer the job to both Doyle and Scobey with the understanding that if one of the applicants denied sharing the duties, it would be awarded fully to the other. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Jimmy Hester and passed unanimously.

Present at the meeting were chairman David Agee, commissioners Jimmy Hester, Steve Walker and Alan Burchfield and Dyer County Fire Chief James Medling.

The committee will meet again for a short period before Monday's County Commission meeting for an update from Medling and will not meet on the issue again unless both candidates turn down sharing the position.