By FireRescue1 Staff
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Firefighters are mourning the death of a fire chief who died after complications from heart surgery.
Little Rock Fire Chief Jim Murphy, 65, came out of retirement to serve as the department’s chief for the past two and a half years.
“With a heavy heart, we announce the passing of our chief,” the department wrote on Facebook. “He will be greatly missed.”
Battalion Chief John Pflasterer told Arkansas Matters that Chief Murphy was a driving force behind implementing new technology at the department, including replacing fire truck computers with iPads.
“When you have a Chief like Jim, who was so full of live and so vivacious and then you get the news that he’s passed away,” Chief Pflasterer.
Chief Murphy, a 40-year veteran, responded to several major emergencies in the area, including a 2015 bus crash that killed six people.
Funeral arrangements have not been announced.