Salrin uses feedback from not being named fire chief in 2021 to improve himself, earns appointment to replace Vahlkamp

QUINCY — Not being selected as the chief of the Quincy Fire Department in 2021 was a wake-up call for Steve Salrin.

“I think I took things for granted based on my position within the department and how long I’ve been there,” Salrin said. “I took that, kind of ran with it and regrouped a little bit.”

Four years later, Salrin now has the job he wanted. The Board of Fire and Police Commissioners appointed him as the next chief, effective March 1, during its meeting Tuesday morning at City Hall. He will replace Bernie Vahlkamp, who announced in December that he plans to retire Feb. 28 after 27½ years with the Quincy Fire Department.

Salrin’s appointment will be sent to the Quincy City Council for acknowledgment during its Feb. 18 meeting.

Salrin has been a deputy chief of operations in Quincy since January 2020. His primary responsibilities are fire prevention, code enforcement and fleet maintenance/repair management. He previously served 10 years in Quincy as the deputy chief of administration. He’s been with the fire department in Quincy for more than 20 years and a firefighter dating back to his days as a volunteer in Nauvoo for more than 30 years.

“Steve has all the credentials you want as the fire chief,” said Barry Cheyne, chairman of the board. “Probably right along with that is Steve was a candidate to be the Quincy fire chief in 2021. He took the feedback that was given to him then and set on a course to improve himself and make him even more attractive to be a fire chief.

“He most recently completed 15 months of chief fire officer rating and certification, which is kind of one of the ultimate goals for certification for a fire chief. Credential wise, he has considerable amount of repertoire.”

Salrin said the certification classes were necessary for him to separate himself from other candidates.

“I just finished that up in January. It was a good process,” he said. “It’s time-consuming. It’s writing papers every month on a given topic. It also gave me a chance to self-reflect a little bit and kind of figure things out. I know that I wanted to make the move and and do what I needed to do. You just kind of pick yourself back up, and I’m motivated enough to do that.

“It’s rewarding to know that the effort that I put in following the last chief search worked out.”

Cheyne said the board — consisting of himself, Angela Caldwell and Mike McLaughlin — reviewed 19 applicants. Salrin and Shawn Smith, assistant chief with the Hannibal (Mo.) Fire Department, were selected as finalists on Jan. 23 after a month-long search conducted by the Illinois Fire Chiefs Association (IFCA).

Paul Chocola of the Oak Forest Fire Department also was named a finalist but withdrew from the job search.

As finalists, Salrin and Smith conducted a city orientation and participated in an evening social on Feb. 2. They participated in a day-long assessment conducted by the IFCA on Feb. 3, then interviewed with a stakeholder group selected by Quincy Mayor Mike Troup and with the fire and police commissioners on Feb. 4.

Scores from the stakeholder group and the fire and police commissioners each counted toward 35 percent of a candidate’s total score. The score from the IFCA counted toward 30 percent of the final score.

“Both of those gents did really, really well,” Cheyne said of the finalists. “It was a very close competition.

“Shawn Smith is a very talented individual and presented himself in a very professional manner. He interviewed very well. He gets our kudos for presenting himself in a great way. He didn’t have the experience level and the levels that Steve did, but nevertheless, he did very well, very well in the interview process. He’ll be a fire chief somewhere someday.”

Cheyne had a little fun at Salrin’s expense when he was called into the meeting.

“We had a personnel matter come up, and the concern was that it involved you,” Cheyne said. “We were wondering if we could just drop ‘deputy’ and just make you the fire chief for the Quincy Fire Department.”

“Absolutely,” Salrin said with a grin.

Cheyne then congratulated Salrin for his work since the last fire chief interview.

“You worked very hard for this day,” he said. “You know how much you had to prepare yourself along the way, and then you worked as a deputy on both sides of the house. You know all that work that you did. I remember when we left here in 2021, and I came over to your office. We sat down, and we went through feedback. We talked about some things. I’m sure you talked extensively with Bernie and others.

“I think the message … is to never stop improving yourself.”

Salrin is an Area 8 representative for the Illinois Fire Chiefs Association. Within the IFCA, he is a member of the state fair committee and the funeral committee. He was elected to the position of secretary for the Central Illinois Fire Chiefs Association. He is a member of the Illinois Terrorism Task Force (ITTF) and is an ITTF training committee member.

He’s also a member of the International Code Council and a past fire service instructor for John Wood Community College and the Illinois Fire Service Institute.

Salrin’s previous administrative experience tells him no changes are needed right away. His first tasks will be to get the budget prepared for fiscal year 2025-26 and find a deputy chief to replace himself. The other deputy chief is Mike Dade.

“It would be kind of disingenuous for me to come in and say, ‘Well, I’m just going to wipe the slate clean,’” he said. “What we’re doing right now is working, in my perspective.”

Vahlkamp said his research shows Salrin will be the 13^th chief of the Quincy Fire Department since 1873. “I can’t find anything before that,” he told the commissioners about his research.

Vahlkamp then expressed his gratitude to the commissioners.

“I’m going to miss it,” he said. “I appreciate the opportunity. I really do. Thank you. This career has been the best thing that’s ever happened for me and my family.”

The board also promoted Zelton Crose to lieutenant and appointed Andrew Stegeman and Kyle VanderMaiden as firefighters.