West Orange appoints new fire chief, assistant chief

Joe Alford, West Orange city attorney, at left, gives the oath of office to Dean Dyson and Terry Veitch as the two men had been appointed as assistant fire chief and fire chief, respectively, of the West Orange Volunteer Fire Department during Monday's West Orange city council meeting. Photo by Tommy Mann Jr.

The West Orange Volunteer Fire Department officially has new leadership in place.

The City of West Orange held a specially scheduled meeting this past Monday at City Hall and the two leading items on the agenda were to appoint two people to positions of chief and assistant chief of the West Orange Volunteer Fire Department.

Mayor Roy McDonald appointed Terry Veitch as the new fire chief and Dean Dyson as assistant fire chief. Both men were approved for these appointments unanimously by city council.

"I'm thankful for this opportunity," Veitch said following his appointment. "It's been a honor to be with the city as long as I have, and I'm looking forward to this new experience as fire chief."

Dyson has been serving as assistant fire chief since 2011, according to McDonald, and agreed to continue serving in that capacity. Veitch has been with the West Orange Volunteer Fire Department for 12 years.

"This fire chief position has been open for only a few months at most, and we wanted to get it filled quickly," McDonald said. "Dean (Dyson) agreed to step up and take charge, until we were able to fill the position, so we knew our citizens were in good hands."

In other news, the official Christmas Tree Lighting Celebration was announced at the end of Monday's council meeting. The annual event will be held at 6 p.m., Monday, Dec. 7, at City Hall and is open to the public.

The celebration will include the tree lighting, singing of Christmas Carols, a visit with Santa Claus, and the reading of "A Cajun Night Before Christmas" by Carl Thibodeaux, former Orange County Judge and current West Orange councilmember.

"I love doing it every year," Thibodeaux said following Monday's meeting. "And it seems like everyone else loves it too."

The next West Orange City Council meeting will be held on Monday, Dec. 14, but the time will be at 5 p.m. instead of the customary 5:30 p.m.