Chief McElroy retires after 26 years of service

St. Johns County Fire Rescue announced to local reporters with Historic City News the retirement of Fire Prevention Chief and Fire Marshal Frank McElroy today; following 26 years of career service to St. Johns County.

Chief McElroy was formally recognized for his service at a County Sponsored awards program held this morning.

Chief McElroy began his career in public safety at 14 years old as a volunteer firefighter at Station 12 in 1974. He has since been either volunteering or a full time public safety provider for the past 34 years.

McElroy was the first career firefighter hired by St. Johns County in 1984 and has served in numerous roles including those of Firefighter-Paramedic, Fire Inspector, Fire Investigator, Fire Coordinator and Fire Marshal. He is considered and expert by his peers in the Florida Fire Prevention Code and NFPA standards.

His assignment for the past 10 years has been the dual role as Fire Prevention Chief and Fire Marshal. He has built a professional Prevention section to include inspections, plans review and investigations.

McElroy encouraged the development of fire prevention and community oriented safety programs and was instrumental in the successful submission and receipt of numerous Fire Prevention Grants.

In a statement from Public Education and Information Officer Jeremy Robshaw, he said, “St. Johns County Fire Rescue congratulates Chief McElroy on his retirement and thanks him for his many years of dedicated service to our community.”

Photo credit: © 2010 Historic City News contributed photograph by St. Johns County Fire Rescue