Whitehouse new fire dept. has new chief - KYTX CBS 19 Tyler Longview News Weather Sports

TYLER (KYTX) - The City of Whitehouse has named John Hargis Fire Chief of the city's new municipal fire department. Hargis has been Certified as a Texas Commission on Fire Protection Firefighter since 1998.  He has been employed by the City of Longview as a Professional Firefighter since 1998.  He has lived in the City of Whitehouse for 22 years and has been a member (paid & volunteer) for the Whitehouse Voluntary Fire Company for 21 years.  He is married with 2 daughters that attend Whitehouse Schools.

Whitehouse City Council decided to add the municipal department at Tuesday night's city council meeting.  A steering committee has met twice over the last two months to talk about the need for a municipal fire department in response to growth in Whitehouse, but not everyone's on board.

"There's pros and cons to it," said current Volunteer Fire Chief Ronny Fite. "Our concern is that maybe the city's moving a little too fast for this. I've always been under the opinion as a lot of folks, that some day the city will need a municipal fire department as it grows. I personally don't think think we're at that point yet."

"Whitehouse is at an end pass right now due to our size and our growth of needing, probably needing a paid municipal fire department. The decision to create one, there's never really a perfect time to do so and so that decision was made by the council," added Whitehouse steering committee member Keith Tate.

The City of Whitehouse is now looking for members for the Whitehouse Municipal Volunteer Fire Unit or a paid Whitehouse Municipal Firefighter. Applications can be downloaded off of the City website www.whitehousetx.org or picked up at City Hall.  All applications must be submitted to City Hall.