Update: Ex-fire chief’s wife confirms the couple are returning to Florida

NC GAZETTE / WBRT RADIO
STAFF REPORT

Thursday, Oct. 26, 2017 — According to a press release issued Thursday afternoon by Mayor Dick Heaton’s office, City Hall personnel have learned that former Bardstown Fire Chief Randy Walker and his wife are returning to Florida.

Walker resigned as the city’s fire chief earlier this week without notice, catching City Hall personnel off guard and the members of his own fire department off-guard.

When Walker interviewed for the position of city fire chief, he was fire chief of the Palm Beach Shores Fire Department, a volunteer department that serves a town of about 1,179 located on Singer Island on the east coast of Florida.

Walker’s wife confirmed they are returning to Florida; Walker was not available for comment, and his wife did not elaborate on the reason for Walker’s resignation.

According to his bio when he was hired as city fire chief in January 2016, Walker was born and raised in the Lawrence County city of Louisa, located on the Big Sandy River on the Kentucky-West Virginia line. He began his firefighting career in 1979 as a volunteer firefighter in Lawrence County. His previous experience included work as a firefighter, instructor, fire marshal, fire officer and chief for various local, county and state governments. He worked in Tennessee and Georgia, prior to moving to Florida.

Heaton left a message through his wife to contact him at his earliest convenience. In the meantime, the mayor’s office is in the process of assembling a selection committee to search for fire chief applicants.  The selection committee members will likely be named sometime next week, the press release stated.

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