Starkville residents can sleep easier at night knowing a 26-year veteran of the fire department is now being called chief. In a 6-1 vote, William Grantham Jr. was named the new Starkville fire chief by the Board of Aldermen Tuesday.
“It’s been a lifelong dream,” Grantham said. “Being appointed has made me look back and see how the good Lord has blessed my life.”
Opposing Grantham’s nomination was Ward 6 Alderman Roy Perkins, whose motion for an open voting session failed.
Starkville has been without a fire chief since January. Until now, three battalion chiefs have run the Starkville Fire Department and reporting to Mayor Mack Rutledge in an effort to keep the department running smoothly.
“The mayor oversaw the department and made all of the important decisions, and the battalion chiefs, or shift managers, were there to take care of the immediate decisions,” Grantham said.
Besides Grantham’s long history with the Fire Department, he works continually to better his firefighting and leadership skills through national training. He is in a five-year program called the Executive Fire Officer Program in Emmittsburg, Md.
The program requires him to travel in two-week increments to complete the intense study. He said his April trip will mark his third, leaving him two more years to go.
“In the past, firefighting has only been a job of manual labor. Now the trend is moving toward a competitive, degree-based job,” Grantham said.
Grantham shares his fire fighting skills and love with his son John Grantham, who is a Grenada firefighter. They are one of the few father-son duos who are smoke diver certified, which means they have gone under intensive training in the physical and mental demands of working in fires and confined spaces.
Grantham said his expertise in smoke diving is not foreign to the department.
“More than half of our firefighters have gone through the rigorous training in Jackson.” Grantham said.
Although Grantham’s salary was an issue at the board’s meeting, it is not with Grantham or the Starkville Fire Department.
“We do it because we love it, or we wouldn’t all have part-time jobs and spend a third of our life on the job,” Grantham said. “We are a family of brothers.