Career firefighter and military veteran Randy Godsey is the new head of the Erlanger Fire/EMS Department.
Godsey, 54, is a Boone County native who joined the fire service in 1984 with the Point Pleasant Fire Department. The new chief has been with the Erlanger Fire Department since 2013.
Godsey is currently serving as interim chief and was previously lieutenant. Before that, he was a battalion chief with the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport Fire Department for 20 years. Godsey is also a U.S. Navy veteran who served in Operation Desert Storm.
Godsey and his wife, Danete, have a daughter, Emily, who is attending Western Michigan University. Godsey also has two sons: Spencer, who serves in the U.S. Navy and is deployed to the Mediterranean Sea aboard the USS Harry S. Truman, a Nimitz-class aircraft carrier; and Quinten, who passed away in February.
He recently accepted the position and will officially start on June 7.
Erlanger Mayor Jessica Fette said Godsey’s years of experience make him an effective leader for the department. She added that the selection committee was “happy to be able to fill this position from within our own ranks.”
Godsey said the department is “a good mix of veterans and youth, but overall we are a very young department.” For that reason, he said he is eager to lead the Erlanger fire department in a way that helps its younger members “grow into and succeed at their jobs of serving this great community.”
