Fire Chief Montero to retire March 1

After 33 years of service to the Donaldsonville community, Fire Chief Chuck Montero will be retiring at the beginning of next month.

Montero, who has officially been fire chief since January of 2006, will retire effective March 1. Among his many accomplishments in his 11 years as chief is the continuing service his department provides day in and day out.

“I am really proud of the level of service that we have been able to provide to the community,” he said.

The decision to retire was due to him reaching retirement age, but also he felt it was time, he said.

“I kind of feel the fire service is a young persons game. It’s not that I don’t enjoy it anymore but the early morning, middle of night calls are not as easy as they once were.”

Though he will no longer be at the fire department, he plans to still be very active in the community. He will continue to privately teach his hazardous material classes, shoot sports photography at the local school and continue to play his bass guitar in his free time.

The City of Donaldsonville and the Fire Department are in the process of accepting applications for fire chief. In the interim, Assistant Fire Chief James McDonald will serve as acting chief until an appointment is made.