First woman to helm Lexington’s fire department will retire in January
Lexington Fire Chief Kristin Chilton will retire in January after a 28-year career with the department.
Chilton was the first woman to become chief after she was appointed to the position by former Mayor Jim Gray in 2016. She is one of only a handful of women in the country who have become chief of a professional fire department.
Mayor Linda Gorton said during a Tuesday council work session that a national search, which will look at internal and external candidates, will begin soon. Chilton had announced earlier this year that she planned to retire.
“It’s been an absolute wonderful career,” Chilton said Tuesday during the council meeting. The coronavirus pandemic had nothing to do with her decision, she said.
Under Chilton’s leadership, the fire department started a paramedicine program which connects people who were once dependent on expensive ambulance runs with needed services. During her tenure, the city earned top ratings from Insurance Service Organizations that measure fire response times. The city also opened a new fire station in Masterson Station.
Chilton first became interested in a career as a firefighter in 1990 after visiting Station 1 on Third Street as part of a first aid class at Transylvania University. It was there Chilton met Lisa Daley, Lexington’s first woman firefighter and a paramedic. It was Daley who encouraged Chilton to apply.
This story was originally published October 6, 2020 at 5:19 PM.
