BATON ROUGE - The new year will bring a new boss overseeing the Baton Rouge Fire Department.

Thursday, Michael Kimble was appointed the new Chief of the Baton Rouge Fire Department.  Kimble has worked as a first responder in East Baton Rouge since 2001, having served for both the BRFD and the Zachary Fire Department as a firefighter, investigator and volunteer deputy chief.

He's also worked as a sheriff's deputy for EBRSO and is a member of USAR Task Force 2 which deploys to disasters throughout the country.

Mayor Sharon Weston Broome made the announcement ahead of Christmas.

“Chief Kimble has demonstrated the importance of leadership and inter-agency collaboration on a national level during his 20 years of service to East Baton Rouge Parish. Most recently, he served as Incident Command for the federally sponsored COVID-19 vaccination site in Baton Rouge,” said Mayor Broome. “Chief Kimble will proudly lead our Baton Rouge Fire Department as it continues to provide Class 1 fire protection to the citizens of our city.”

“I am honored and humbled to be named the Fire Chief for the City of Baton Rouge. I would like to thank Mayor Broome for the trust placed in me to move our department forward,” Chief Kimble said in a prepared statement. “Together, as a department, I am confident we will be successful.”

Kimble replaces Edwin Smith who announced his retirement in May, ending a 47-year career.  Smith had been chief of the department for 19 years and was first appointed under Mayor Bobby Simpson.