St. Tammany Fire Protection District No. 11 Names New Fire Chief

At the end of 2017, our Fire Chief Johnny Leos passed away which meant our administration had to place someone at the helm to lead the fire district until a new Fire Chief could be named. At the time, Chief of Operations Jack Dockery was asked to step in as the interim Fire Chief until a civil service test could be held and interviews of eligible applicants could be conducted. At the regular board of commissioners meeting held on Tuesday, April 10, 2018, the board made the decision to place Chief Jack Dockery in as the new Fire Chief for St. Tammany Fire Protection District No. 11.

Chief Dockery is no stranger to the fire district having served the citizens of Pearl River and St. Tammany Fire Protection District No. 11 for over 17 years. Chief Dockery began his fire service career at the fire district in 2001 as a volunteer and was hired full-time in February of 2002. Chief Dockery was subsequently promoted to a Lieutenant, then Captain and worked his way up to the Chief of Operations serving in that position from September of 2015 until his recent promotion to Fire Chief on April 10th of this year.

Chief Dockery has lived in the fire district for 9 years and will be celebrating 9 years of marriage to his wife Jennifer in September. Chief Dockery and his wife Jennifer have a 5-year-old daughter Ellisyn who attends elementary school in the Pearl River area. Chief Dockery considers himself a homebody and enjoys spending time with his family when he is not busy with his responsibilities at the fire district. He also has a love for learning new things including how to play the guitar.

Chief Dockery stated that “I look forward to working with the citizens, public officials, personnel of fire district 11 and the surrounding fire districts.” Chief Dockery went on to say “We continue to strive on how we can improve the quality of services we provide with the input and consideration from everyone with a vested interest, primarily from the citizens within our fire district that we serve.”