South Walton Fire Chief Rick Talbert to Retire in 2019
(Santa Rosa Beach) – At the regularly scheduled South Walton Fire District Board of Fire Commissioners meeting on Monday, December 10, 2018, Fire Chief Rick Talbert announced to the seven-member board and those in attendance that he will retire by March 1, 2019.
After an overall 40-year fire service career, with 11 of those years dedicated to serving the South Walton Fire District, Chief Talbert has provided impactful leadership and guidance to SWFD. Under his leadership, the South Walton Fire District has improved their level of service with the following public safety enhancements:
- Organizational excellence in our service delivery
- High standards in employee training, education and career development
- An improved Insurance Services Office (ISO) rating for the fire district (lowered from 5 to 3)
- Full Advanced Life Support (Paramedic) services
- Exceeding customer’s expectations through compassion and empathy
- Active participation in the community
- Growing leaders within the organization through, training, coaching and mentoring
- Sound fiscal responsibility and planning
- An expanded and professional beach safety and education program
- Design and approval of a state-of-the-art live fire training and multi-use training tower and a maintenance facility
- Cooperative and effective partnerships with all emergency service providers locally and statewide