VERNON TOWNSHIP — The new Vernon Township Fire Department’s first chief has resigned, and two township public safety officials are stepping up in the interim.
Vernon Township Trustee Florence May announced former Chief Todd Jordan’s resignation in a news release this week.
“I want to take this time to thank Chief Jordan on behalf of Vernon Township and the township board for his hard work and dedication in starting Vernon Township Fire Department and beginning 24/7 on-station service in 2019,” May said in the release.
The township hired Jordan as its public safety director shortly after May started her first term in January 2019. In the past year, township leaders saw the completion of a new fire station at 600 Vitality Drive in Fortville, started 24/7 on-station service and changed the township’s fire protection from two paid-per-run outfits into one department made up of paid part-time and paid-per-run firefighters. Jordan became chief when the new fire department was created.
The township also ended its agreement with its former ambulance service provider and started providing the service in house on Jan. 1, 2020.
May said in the release that Vernon Township Fire Operations Chief Kent Helpling and EMS Chief Kiely Culberson will serve as interim co-chiefs for the fire department.
Helpling has extensive fire service experience, May said, and took the lead on VTFD operations in May 2019 when the new fire station went into service.
Culberson came to the VTFD in fall 2019 to launch the in-house ambulance service at the start of 2020.
“We have confidence in both their abilities,” May said.
Jordan told the Daily Reporter that serving as township fire chief — a part-time position with part-time pay — demands more than part-time hours. He said while he was initially willing to put in the extra time, he also works full time as a firefighter in Anderson and runs a detection K-9 business. Stepping down from Vernon Township was the right decision for him and his family, he said.
“I knew Kent would do a good job and Kiely’s going to do a good job,” Jordan said.
May told the Daily Reporter that the township board will hold an executive session today (Jan. 24) to approve the process moving forward for hiring a new fire chief.
“We will not rush this,” May said. “We got a quality team; we want to make sure we got a quality leader going forward.”
