The Covington Board of Commissioners appointed Corey Deye, who assumed the duties of interim fire chief at the beginning of April, to the position of fire chief of the Covington Fire Department at their meeting Tuesday night. James Adams was also promoted to the position of deputy chief. Both will assume their duties on April 10.
“It’s truly an honor to serve in this role,” Deye said upon his appointment. “From my great grandfather, who served in the horse-drawn days in the 1920s to my grandparents and parents who have deep roots, who lived most of their lives in the city in the Peaselburg neighborhood.”
Deye came to the Covington Fire Department in 2004, starting as a paramedic when he was 23. He earned several promotions in the 2010s, finally landing as a position as a captain at Fire Company 1 in 2017.
In 2021, he was promoted to assistant chief of training, where he was instrumental in the creation of the city’s fire cadet program, which brings on young recruits, gives them paid training and places them at the top of the list for becoming members of the department once they complete the program. Similar programs already existed for police cadets, but a paid fire cadet program was novel. The program has been around for about a year. Two cadets in the program attended Tuesday’s meeting.
Additionally, Deye served as one of the first medics for the Covington SWAT team and spearheaded several other community projects, including a project with the Holmes High School carpentry program two years ago, which saw students build wooden training props for the fire department.
Deye assumed the position of deputy chief in January of this year.
The previous Fire Chief, Mark Pierce, resigned from his position effective March 31, following tensions between the city and Professional Firefighters Local 38, Covington’s fire union. The union took issue with a reduction of overtime hours that occurred under the joint tenure of Pierce and Covington’s City Manager Ken Smith. Local 38 argued the reduction had led to reducing staff to the point of endangering public safety.
Pierce seemed to take on the brunt of this tension at a meeting of the board of commissioners on Feb. 20, where the commissioners peppered Pierce with questions, wanting to know if the reduction had, in fact, endangered public safety. When he said that it could, seemingly changing his tune from his initial recommendations, they rebuked him.
Pierce announced his retirement two days later. In a phone call on the day of Deye and Adams’ promotion, Pierce declined to comment on whether the union tensions had prompted his decision to step down. Pierce did not attend Tuesday’s meeting.
New Deputy Chief Adams joined the Covington FD in 2008 and was promoted to engineer in 2011. He earned a promotion to lieutenant in 2017 and became the assistant chief of training in January of this year.
“Thank you for this opportunity,” Adams said. “For a kid to grow up on John Street who’s been bumming around a firehouse since 1982, it’s a lot.”
The mayor congratulated the new chiefs and recessed the meeting to allow them to take pictures with their families.
The next meeting of the Covington Board of Commissioners will take place on Tuesday, April 16 at 6 p.m. at Covington City Hall on Pike Street.