By Katherine Ullmer
Dayton Daily News (Ohio)
Copyright 2007 Dayton Newspapers, Inc.
WASHINGTON TWP., Ohio — Deputy Fire Chief Bill Gaul, 51, will take over as chief July 1 upon the retirement of Ken Parks.
Q: Lots of boys think they want to grow up and become firefighters, but then change their minds. What made you choose firefighting as a career?
A: I like to help people. In 1977 or ’78, my brother got on the fire department as a volunteer. My parents lived down on Social Row Road. There were a lot of accidents around there. I’d go with my brother and stand back and watch them. He’s my younger brother, Mark Gaul. He’s a captain now at the new station 43 at Ohio 48 and Social Row Road.
Q: Where did you grow up and what is your educational background? Were there firefighters in your family?
A: I was born in Cleveland and grew up in Ashtabula until I was 4 or 5. I was in Marlboro, Mass., until about 13. I graduated from Centerville High School in 1974. I finished an associate’s degree in business administration from Sinclair Community College. During 1979, I became a volunteer on the fire department. In 1984, I became a career person. I had a cousin who was a fire chief in northern Ohio - Orwell, Ohio.
Q: How many others applied for the position, and why did you want to be chief?
A: Five applicants from inside the department. As I became a lieutenant, I decided to work my way to be at the top to preserve change and some of my ideas that I gained through my career. I want to drive the direction I thought the organization might go in the future. I want to continue on with some of Chief Parks’ program and at the same time develop some of my own ... in career development ... and having the fire department be the focal point of Centerville/ Washington Twp.
Q: What qualifications do you think gave you the edge over the others?
A: Probably experience. I have 27 years experience dealing with almost every area, from maintenance, communications, operations, the business of fire safety ... I’ve worked and supervised all those areas. Also my people skills...I’m pretty good at trying to resolve conflict. High integrity.
Q: You served under the current chief and Chief Randall Staley. In what ways do you plan to operate the department differently from them?
A: Let’s be a research site for different projects...EMS has new equipment. Let’s be a trial site for it. I think developing a career development program will better prepare the people for their jobs and also prepare them for the next level.
We’ll follow what the strategic plan is and make this a better fire department to provide better service for the community. I’d like to do more community service ... blood pressure checks ... on holidays going to nursing homes ... letting people know we’re here and don’t be afraid to call ... getting our names out in the schools for recruitment and retention purposes.
Q: You’ve been studying leadership as part of your bachelor of arts degree work in business/leadership at Capital University. What are the qualities of a good leader and what do you bring to the table in that regard?
A. Honesty. Integrity. People skills. I’m also not one to make knee-jerk decisions. I want to empower the people to make the decisions, as long as they’re just and rational and follow budget guidelines.
Q: What changes do you foresee making in the Washington Twp. Fire Department to make it better?
A: Fill vacant positions. Put leadership in those ranks through a testing process. Increase response times for our engines. Do something with recruitment and retention. You have to build a foundation before you build a house.
Q: Do you foresee the department moving away from being predominantly volunteer?
A: The elected officials will make that decision. I was a volunteer for five years. They get up in the middle of the night, stay up all night fighting fires and then go to their full-time job. Somewhere in the distant future we’re going to look at that ... because of response times ... but I don’t know that we’re ever going to eliminate the part-paid or volunteer people.
Q: What’s your take on having a regional dispatch?
A: That’s going to be decided at a political level. We have a system that works well. Once we give up our communication’s center, there’s no going back. Overall, it could eventually save money, but we do not want it to affect the service to the people in the community. We should watch out for their well-being. I’m not opposed to looking at different options, but we’d better make sure what replaces it works even better.