Alexandria Fire Chief To Retire In July

ALEXANDRIA, VA—Alexandria Fire Chief Robert Dubé will retire on July 3, the city announced. Assistant Fire Chief of Administration Corey Smedley has been appointed as acting fire chief.

Dubé has been Alexandria's fire chief since 2014 and has served in the fire service for over 40 years. Aside from Alexandria, he has worked in Fairfax County; Louisa County, Virginia and Clearwater, Florida.

"It has been one of the honors of my professional career to lead this great department and its dedicated members," said Dubé in a statement. "I thank them for the amazing work they do every day to help keep our community safe, and I am confident that our current leadership and passionate team of firefighters and EMS providers will continue this department's proud 153-year tradition of service."

Under Dubé's leadership, the Alexandria Fire Department received over $5 million in grant funding for paramedic and special operations training, as well as for four-person staffing levels. The fire department also created a comprehensive health, safety and risk management unit, put a dedicated heavy rescue service company in service for the first time and made ladder trucks, engines, and heavy rescue and hazardous materials response units made for urban operations.

The soon-to-be Acting Fire Chief Smedley has been with the Alexandria Fire Department since 2015. He was previously deputy fire chief of emergency management and homeland security before becoming assistant fire chief of administration in January. He helped activate the city's new Emergency Operations Center in May.

Smedley has been a firefighter since 1995 and had also served as deputy chief of the Prince George's County, Maryland Fire/EMS Department. He is a nationally registered paramedic and a fire inspector, instructor and investigator.