BCFD may soon have a new chief... again

WINDER - Barrow County officials have turned to south Georgia again in the search for a new fire chief.

Former Statesboro Fire Chief Dennis Merrifield's appointment is subject to county commission approval.

Merrifield lost his job in Statesboro lat May when the city council eliminated a number of positions, including fire chief, because of a budget shortfall.

The Barrow County Fire Department has been operating with an interim chief since August when Donald Towne, who had been hired a month earlier, was fired. Towne was dismissed after he was charged with stealing cable TV service in Cairo while he was fire chief there.

(The Associated Press contributed to this story.)