Fayetteville Fire Chief search down to three candidates

Thirty-one applied, ten were interviewed, and now the candidates for the new Fayetteville Fire Chief have been narrowed down to three.

The City of Fayetteville announced in a press release today that David Dayringer, Christopher Neal, and John Neal are the final contenders for the open position.

All three candidates will be available to meet the public on the days of their final interviews with Mayor Lioneld Jordan from Dec. 9-11. The public receptions for each candidate will be held at the Fayetteville Public Library from 5:00 pm-6:30 pm each day, and are sponsored by the International Association of Fire Fighters, Local 2866.

Christopher Neal will interview on Dec. 9. Neal recently retired as director of the Oklahoma State University Fire Protection Publications and executive director of the International Fire Service Training Association. He previously served as fire chief in Stillwater, Okla.

John Neal (no relation to Christopher) will interview on Dec 10. Neal has served eight years as fire chief in Harrison, Ark., beginning in 2001, and has been with the Harrison Fire Department for the past 20 years.

David Dayringer will interview on Dec 11. Dayringer is a retired deputy chief and fire marshal of the Tulsa Fire Department. He was also the Chief of Human Resource and Training.

The Selection Committee consisted of Interim Fire Chief Kyle Curry, Police Chief Greg Tabor, Finance Director Paul Becker, Chief of Staff Don Marr, City Fire Department front line member Jeremy Jackson, and Communication Director Lindsley Smith.

The position became available when Tony Johnson announced his retirement at a meeting of the Fayetteville City Council back in August.