Fire Chief Heather Burford has been chief here for seven years. When she was appointed, she was the only female chief of a paid department in Connecticut. —Dick Aarons photo
Fire Chief Heather Burford has accepted a conditional job offer as the new chief of the City of Seminole (Fla.) Fire Rescue Department.
Chief Burford, who has served as Ridgefield’s chief for the last seven years, still has to pass a physical and a background check before officially taking the position.
“I’ve let everyone know that I will be stepping down as fire chief,” she said Monday morning. “I want to make sure it’s a done deal though before talking more about my new position and what the transition process will be like here.”
She added that assistant fire chief Kevin Tappe would be filling the open position, but couldn’t confirm when that would take place.
Chief Burford came to Ridgefield from Manchester Fire Department, where she worked as a firefighter-paramedic before being promoted to lieutenant and then to battalion chief during a 13-year career.
CORRECTION NOTE: An earlier version of this story said the post was chief of the Seminole County fire department instead of the city department.