Woodard resigns

On Feb. 14, Trousdale County Fire Chief Jay Woodard turned in his resignation to Trousdale County Mayor Jack McCall.

Woodard, who came from Nashville to take the position as chief a little more than two years, made the decision to retire.

Woodard’s decision to leave the fire department now requires the mayor to select an interim fire chief until the position can be permanently filled.

“Effective (Feb. 14), chief Jay Woodard resigned as fire chief,” said McCall. “I will try to appoint an interim as quickly as I can, hopefully, within the next two weeks.

“But until I have a chance to meet with the firefighters next week and get a pretty good feel for what they’re thinking and what their wishes are, I’m not going to appoint anyone as interim.”

Although McCall’s plan is to move quickly in his appointment, according to Woodard, until that time, the mayor will serve as the acting fire chief while he considers who he will select as interim.

“Until the mayor appoints somebody, he is considered the fire chief,” said Woodard.

McCall added, “According to the chain of command, until I appoint an interim, I guess (the position) goes to the mayor. I’m not sure that I would make a very good interim fire chief. I don’t have a lot of experience in fighting fires.”

As stated by McCall, an interim chief will likely be chosen from among the current volunteer firefighters.

“I think I’ll almost have to appoint (an interim) from within,” said McCall. “We don’t need to go through a lengthy process to pick an interim. I think I just need to talk to (the firefighters) about it and make sure everyone’s on the same page for the short term, and then go from there.”

Nevertheless, Woodard looks forward to his retirement. “You come to a point where you have to take care of yourself,” said Woodard. “I am going to enjoy my retirement.”