In 2001, after a nationwide search, Mayor Bill Purcell selected Steve Halford to be Nashville’s new Fire Chief. As of April 1st of this year, Chief Halford has been with us for ten years.

Chief Halford, a veteran of the fire service; began his career as a volunteer fire fighter and soon entered the career fire service in Anne Arundel County, a suburb of Baltimore. The Anne Arundel County Fire department is a “combination” fire department, consisting of both career and volunteer fire fighters and is one of the largest such fire departments in the United States. During the next 29 years, Steve rose through the ranks of the career service holding the positions of Fire Fighter/EMT, Fire Dispatcher, Fire Engineer, Fire Lieutenant, Fire Captain, Fire Battalion Chief, Fire Division Chief, Deputy Fire Chief of Operations and in 1994 was appointed as Chief of the Anne Arundel County Fire Department. Concurrent with his duties as Fire Chief, Steve was also appointed as the Director of Emergency Management for Anne Arundel County. Chief Halford retired from Anne Arundel County in 1999.

After leaving Anne Arundel County, Chief Halford served for two years as Chief of the Clayton (Missouri) Fire Department. The City of Clayton is a main business hub for the City of St. Louis.

Chief Halford holds a Bachelor’s of Science Degree from the University of Maryland. He is a graduate of the Executive Fire Officer Program at the National Fire Academy. He has earned the designation of Certified Fire Officer from the Commission on Fire Accreditation International and the designation of Certified Emergency Manager from the International Association of Emergency Managers. He has authored several magazine articles for fire service trade magazines and represents the International Association of Fire Chiefs on occasion. Steve and his wife, Linda, reside in Bellevue and have 3 adult children.

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