Obama taps Atlanta chief for U.S. job

Tools

Obama taps Atlanta chief for U.S. job

Story Published: Jul 8, 2009 at 8:14 PM EST

Story Updated: Jul 8, 2009 at 8:14 PM EST

ATLANTA (AP) - President Obama has named Atlanta Fire Chief Kelvin Cochran to head the U.S. Fire Administration, overseeing national efforts to prevent fires and improve response.

The 49-year-old Cochran was chief in his hometown of Shreveport, La., when named head of the Atlanta Fire Rescue Department in November 2007.

A city budget crisis forced him to make cuts including the controversial closing of two fire stations and temporarily shutting stations when staffing was low.

His department's budget has dropped from $74.7 million to $64.2 million.

The head of the Atlanta firefighters union, Jim Daws, credits Cochran with "mitigating the damage.''

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

 


NBC Augusta 26 News brings you straight to the point news, weather, and sports from Augusta and the CSRA. Meet our NBC Augusta 26 News staff!

User Agreement

View comments

The following comments do not necessarily represent the views of NBC Augusta 26 | news, weather, sports, community, entertainment, shopping for Augusta, Georgia. Users have agreed to these terms and in doing so accept full responsibility for their comments. Moderation is limited.

Add a comment

Name:

Comment: 500 Characters Left

WAGT and its affiliated companies are not responsible for the content of comments posted or for anything arising out of use of the above comments or other interaction among the users. Comments are posted on site immediately and without station moderation. If you feel a comment is inappropriate you may flag it for review. For guidelines on flagging comments see our Terms & Conditions. We reserve the right to screen, refuse to post, remove or edit user-generated content at any time and for any or no reason in our absolute and sole discretion without prior notice, although we have no duty to do so or to monitor any Public Forum.

I have read and agree to the terms

Hide comments

More Good Stuff

WAGT Weather

Click here for 7 Day Forecast
Icon
Current Temp 55.0 °F
Overcast
More Weather

WAGT Weather

YouNews

This content requires the latest Adobe Flash Player and a browser with JavaScript enabled. Click here for a free download of the latest Adobe Flash Player.

On Demand

NBC Augusta 26 RSS FeedsNBC Augusta 26 Twitter Feed NBC Augusta 26 Facebook Page NBC Full Shows Online

Viewer Poll

Do you plan to go shopping the day after Thanksgiving?

  • Yes
  • No
  • Undecided