Russellville Fire Chief retires after 23 years of service

RUSSELLVILLE, Ala. (WHNT) — Joe Mansell, the long-time fire chief at Russellville Fire Department is retiring after 23 years of service.

Thursday morning, gratitude and thank you’s were pouring out for Mansell as he retires after more than 2 decades at the helm. He received a surprise send-off from students at Russellville Elementary.

“To see this right here, means so much to me and very appreciative, I started school at Russellville, finished school at Russellville, got to watch my kids go through as fire chief, I’ve been blessed beyond measures,” Mansell said.

Chief Mansell says he was the youngest chief to go through the department, adding he couldn’t have done it without his crew.

“We have a very supportive group of men who work here, it’s not about ranks, it’s about helping each other,” Mansell said.

Although Mansell takes a step back, he’s not walking away entirely.

“I’ll be coming back to work part-time, just won’t be the chief, so that is going to be a different, going back to what I started my career, I love getting on the fire trucks and doing that, and I’ll still get to do that,” Mansell said.

And Mansell says he is thrilled to see the work done by his replacement.

“I prayed about it when I got chief and I prayed about it when looking at retirement so to know someone else is fixing to get a blessing in their life, that means a whole lot to me to watch someone else’s face light up for when they get to be the chief,” Mansell said.

The Fire Department will start the interview process for a new chief next week.

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