Stephen Cox, a nearly 15-year veteran of the Flagler Beach Fire Department who’s long represented its new generation, was appointed its fire chief earlier this month from a pool of 15 candidates. He replaces Bobby Pace, who’d retired in February from the post he’d held for 12 years.
The city plans an official announcement in the near future. But it became as official as it gets on Tuesday when Cox received his chief’s name tag.
“We’re in great standing,” Cox said, speaking during a break in a daylong goal-setting session for the city commission and city staff. “We’re creating some new initiatives with the organization, more forward-looking. And I think we’ve got a great thing going on. Of course, we’re supported by this city and we’re very fortunate. So we’re in a new era.”
City Manager Dale Martin, who made the final decision, called Cox an “inspiration” for a young fire department of nine firefighters (most of them in their early to mid-30s, two of them women), with two vacancies (lieutenant and deputy fire chief). A half dozen volunteers support the department.
“I actually conducted some preliminary phone interviews with about five or six, we brought in three,” Martin said of the original pool of 15 applicants. “I had an external board. I had somebody from Volusia County, somebody from St Johns County, and somebody from DeLand. I did an interview, and then I punted him to the board, and the board unanimously recommended Steven as well. So he went through the process, and he earned it.”
Martin spoke of the gradual change in the fire department over the years as old timers “migrated away” and got replaced with the younger crews. Martin was being kind: the department a dozen years ago became a bit of a mess and caused the city manager at the time to bring in an investigator, which eventually, and amid muddied politics, jockeying and disputes about the investigation’s fairness, led to a fire chief’s ouster and Pace’s installation. It’s been quieter since.
Martin is working on next year’s budget for the department. He wants to develop its bench, he says. To do that, he plans on adding a fourth person to each crew, from three, “so we can develop that bench depth,” he said. The plan is to have that operational by fall. But it may take a while to find three more firefighters to add. Each position will cost an additional $80,000, when benefits and equipment is included.
“We get a good return on our investment, because it’s going for public safety for the community,” Cox said, increasing efficiency and reducing burnout. These days the department’s firefighters have been practicing drills inside the new Margaritaville hotel, at the invitation of the hotel owner. The facility will be the largest commercial building on the barrier island side of Flagler Beach. It is due to open later this year.
Cox had been an Explorer in high school, taking ride-alongs with firefighters before starting his career in earnest at the Winter Springs Fire Department. He took a job in the Flagler Beach department in 2005 as a rank-and-file firefighter, very quickly assuming leadership roles, which have always come naturally to him. The titles came later.
In 2015 Cox worked with then-Emergency Management Director Kevin Guthrie on a countywide initiative to build more unity among fire services (Guthrie went on to the role he holds now as state emergency management director, answering to Gov. Ron DeSantis). In 2016, as a lieutenant, Cox was named the Palm Coast Elks Club’s Public Safety Person of the Year.
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