Hoggatt
After more than six years of leading the Greenwood Fire Department, the city’s fire chief will be retiring next year.
Darin Hoggatt, a 26-year veteran of the fire department, will retire on Feb. 3. He has served as the city’s fire chief since 2016, overseeing the department’s staff of more than 110 employees, including administrative staff and both full-time and part-time firefighters.
“It’s bittersweet,” Hoggatt said Monday. “I have a lot of friends here. We are, the fire department, family.”
Hoggatt, 52, decided to retire now for two reasons: he’s now eligible to and he received a job offer, he said. He’s been approached by Indiana University Health to become a program director for academic affairs.
“I was there before I came to the fire department,” he said. “They always said, ‘We’re going to get you back,’ so they were successful in luring me back.”
Prior to serving as Greenwood’s fire chief, Hoggatt worked his way up the ranks of the department. He worked as a firefighter/paramedic, EMS lieutenant, EMS division chief and assistant fire chief before being named to the top job in June 2016.
As fire chief, Hoggatt oversaw the $5 million relocation of Station 93 from Stop 18 Road to Cutsinger Road. He also saw the department’s number of full-time firefighters increase with 30 full-time firefighters being hired since he was first appointed.
Hoggatt hopes the department will continue to grow even more after he leaves next year.
“Hopefully, it continues to grow,” he said. “I hope, I hope, I hope it continues to grow and we get more full-time firefighters after I leave. But I feel like I’ve done a pretty good job.”
Hoggatt has done an exceptional job for the city, and his leadership has been outstanding, Mayor Mark Myers said Monday. In addition to the growth in full-time staff, he’s also helped make sure employees have the proper training and equipment they need.
“He has just been a very excellent leader, and he will be greatly missed,” Myers said.
As of now, Hoggatt’s replacement is unknown. The decision on his replacement rests with Myers, who says a letter will be sent out in the next few weeks looking for applicants.
“Once I get adequate list of applicants, myself and a couple people will sit down and interview those people,” Myers said.
The best candidate will then be announced as the next fire chief, with the announcement likely sometime after early February, he said.
