Fort Worth fire chief placed on administrative leave
Fort Worth Fire Chief Jim Davis was placed on administrative leave Sept. 23, city officials confirmed to the Fort Worth Report.
Chief spokesperson Sana Syed said via text message that Davis was placed on paid administrative leave. Assistant Fire Chief Raymond Hill is serving as interim chief. Hill is a 31-year veteran of the department.
“Due to this being a personnel matter, there’s nothing more we can share at this time,” Syed said.
Multiple council members declined to comment or did not return requests for comment.
Council member Chris Nettles said in a phone interview Tuesday night that the council was informed of Davis’ leave but was not provided a reason.
Davis has served as chief since 2018, leading a department of 1,600 employees and 45 fire stations, according to the city’s website. He earns an annual salary of about $250,000, according to city records.
Davis recently led the department into the launch of its in-house ambulance services. The July launch saw the city take over emergency medical services, or EMS, operations from MedStar, its third-party providers since the 1980s.
The EMS launch went smoothly, city officials have touted, attributing the takeover’s success to Davis’ intentionality in making former MedStar employees feel welcomed in the fire department.
Davis previously oversaw training and education for 1,550 firefighters and paramedics in the Columbus, Ohio, Division of Fire, according to his bio.
Cecilia Lenzen and Drew Shaw are government accountability reporters for the Fort Worth Report. Contact them at Cecilia.Lenzen@fortworthreport.org and drew.shaw@fortworthreport.org.
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