Forsyth fire chief reflects on time in role ahead of retirement

The Forsyth Fire Department is saying goodbye to a long time employee and leader.

FORSYTH, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) — The Forsyth Fire Department is saying goodbye to a long time employee and leader.

Fire Chief David Herndon is retiring September 30. We sat down to speak with him about his accomplishments in the position.

Fire Chief Herndon says it was time to head to retirement and travel.

“It’s been an extremely fun position,” he said. “I’ve looked forward to getting up and coming to work every day.”

A dream of working with the Forsyth Fire Department is coming to an end, and Fire Chief Herndon will hang up his helmet after 11 years in the position.

“My one core value was to make a difference one life at a time,” he said. “And that’s something that the crews bought into, and that’s what we did.”

Fire Chief Herndon gave 40 years of his life as a part-time firefighter with the department and spent 11 of those as chief.

He says the department has maintained a great relationship with the city. In his 11 years, they’ve worked to add personnel, buy new equipment and add a new fire truck.

He recalls some fires that happened in downtown Forsyth.

“When we had our block fires, we had a lot of people doing a lot of work, but thankfully downtown is still there,” he said.

As he prepares to leave the position, he has one message to his men and women.

“The true purpose is to make a difference and work towards that,” he said. “Don’t ever get complacent. If you get complacent in your training, it gets dangerous.”

Herndon says the community can rest assured the department will continue to maintain a safe level of care.