Excerpts from Cincinnati.com:

A veteran fire chief from Illinois beat out 30 other candidates to become the new head of Newport’s fire department (OH). The Newport City Commission swore in Bill Darin, of East Peoria, Ill., this week as fire chief.

Firefighting is part of Darin’s heritage. His father, grandfather and great-grandfather were firefighters. In addition, four uncles and a brother worked as firefighters.

His son works for the Louisville Fire Department. That’s why his attention turned to Kentucky after more than 40 years fighting fires, including 30 years as a fire chief in Illinois. He wants to be closer to family.

Darin served as fire chief of Batavia, Illinois for 27 years before becoming fire chief for East Peoria in 2009, where he served for six years.

Newport’s previous fire chief, Gary Auffart, left in December to become fire chief in Fort Mitchell. Newport is a full-time fire department with 37 firefighters. The fire chief salary starts at $96,000 a year.

thanks Drew