YORK — The City of York announced Friday that David Michaels, Chief of the City of York Department of Fire/Rescue Services, is retiring.
He will be succeeded by Deputy Chief Chad Deardorff, the office of Mayor Michael Helfrich announced.
Michaels was hired by the department as a firefighter in July of 1990. He received a letter of commendation for off-duty actions in 1998, and was promoted to Lieutenant on January 7, 2000. He was named Firefighter of the Year in 2006 and received another letter of commendation from the department in 2007 for the rescue of a civilian from a fire on N. Penn Street.
Michaels was promoted to Assistant Chief in October of 2008 and became Deputy Chief in May of 2010. He was appointed Chief of City of York Department of Fire/Rescue Services on April 29th, 2012.
Deardorff will be named Acting Chief on February 2. He began his career with the department in 1995. A graduate of Columbia Southern University, where he earned a Master’s Degree in Business and Public Administration, Deardorff is a member of the Pennsylvania Career Fire Chiefs Board, the Fire Chiefs and Firefighters Association of York County Board, EMS Section Board for the International Association of Fire Chiefs, and he is in his third year of the Executive Fire Officer program at the National Fire Academy.
Deardorff is the receipient of three department commendations, a unit citation, and was named Firefighter of the Year in 2005.
“On behalf of the entire City of York I want to thank Chief Michaels for almost 3 decades of service in our community,”said Helfrich in a press release. “His leadership, vision, and dedication to developing the department will leave a lasting impact. I am thrilled that Deputy Chief Deardorff has accepted the Acting Chief position and I look forward to working closely with him.”
“It has been a privilege and an honor to have served the residents and visitors of the City of York,” Michaels said in a statement. “I am proud of the work that our firefighters do every day and retire knowing the future is bright for the York City Fire Department.”
Deardorff said, “I am beyond excited to become the next fire chief of the City of York Department of Fire/Rescue Services. It is an honor to become the leader of the department I love and to be able to lead the members that are family to me. I would like to offer a sincere thank you to Chief Michaels for his leadership since the day he became a York City Firefighter. He has taught so many (past and present) within this department. He has groomed me for this opportunity and for that I thank him. Chief, you will be missed by many.”
