FISHERS, IN –Fishers Town Council has named Deputy Chief Steven Orusa to the position of Interim Fire Chief following Chief Kenneth Lay’s resignation Thursday morning.  Orusa has been Deputy Chief of the Fishers Fire Department for over a year, previously being Assistant Fire Chief of the City of Beach Park, IL.

“In his time as Deputy Fire Chief, Steve Orusa has exemplified the definition of a leader,” said Fishers Town Council President Scott Faultless. “During the past year he has led the creation of several vital programs in the Fire Department integral to its success. We are very lucky to have such a strong leader ready to step up as the new Interim Fire Chief.”

The Fishers Town Council will look to permanently fill the Fire Chief position at the upcoming May 31^st Town Council meeting.

Chief Steve Orusa is a 25-year veteran who oversaw a full-time department of 117 members in the City of Waukegan. He has held additional positions as Training Officer, Flight Medic, Dive Team Rescue Leader, Hazardous Materials Teach Member, Director of Fire Academy, and Terrorism Task Force Unifies Command Instructor.

As Deputy Chief of the Fishers Fire Department, Orusa led the creation of a post incident analysis program to improve safe and effective service delivery by examining past performance. He also created an incident management team; some of whose members will be serving on the team managing the Super Bowl in 2012.

Chief Orusa is a frequently invited speaker on public safety leadership and development techniques.  He has provided analysis on public safety diving for USA Today, Fire Chief Magazine, Fire Engineering Magazine, Dive Training Magazine, and has also appeared on MSNBC, FoxNews and CNN to provide expert analysis on water rescue disaster response.