WESTMINSTER : Fire Chief Appoints Second in Command

Fire Chief John T. DeMonaco Jr. has appointed a former colleague with the San Marino Fire Department as assistant fire chief of the Westminster Fire Department.

DeMonaco said Tuesday that Timothy J. Murphy has been picked from more than 40 applicants to serve as second in command of the city’s 63-member department, which is in the midst of a City Council-authorized reorganization of its management team.

Last week, DeMonaco appointed Donald C. Tully division chief in charge of fire prevention, and this month, DeMonaco is expected to name the head of the paramedics and training division.

The council ordered the changes last year to control the department’s overtime expenses, improve its efficiency and make top-ranking officials more accountable by stopping the practice of rotating positions.

For the past six years, Murphy was a battalion chief in the San Marino Fire Department, where DeMonaco was fire chief for four years until he was appointed to head the Westminster department last year.

As assistant fire chief, Murphy will be responsible for operations, serve as the department’s spokesman and be acting fire chief in DeMonaco’s absence.

He is expected to earn $6,200 to $7,200 a month under a salary schedule recently approved by the council.