Vahlkamp plans to step down as chief of Quincy Fire Department; Troup hopes replacement picked by February

QUINCY — After 27½ years with the Quincy Fire Department, including the last 3½ as chief, Bernie Vahlkamp has decided to retire effective Feb. 28.

Vahlkamp, who replaced Joe Henning as chief in July 2021, announced his decision during Monday night’s Quincy City Council meeting. He told Muddy River News on Monday morning he originally hoped to stay on the job until he completed 30 years with the department.  

Vahlkamp, 57, said his wife, Mary Pat, is retiring from her position at Quincy Notre Dame in December. The Vahlkamps plan to make frequent trips to be with Mary Pat’s parents in Kentucky.

“That gives us more time to be able to do the things we need to do in Kentucky with her family,” Vahlkamp said. “(Mary Pat’s) been spending a lot of time running down there. It’s just the way things worked out.”

Quincy Mayor Mike Troup said at the beginning of Monday’s meeting that he and Barry Cheyne, chairman of the Board of Fire and Police Commissioners, learned of Vahlkamp’s decision a couple of weeks earlier.

“Yes, we tried to talk him out of it,” Troup told aldermen. “It’s a family decision, so we respect that. We’re going to miss him.”

Troup said the Fire and Police Commission is putting together a timeline and process for Vahlkamp’s replacement to be hired. He said the commissioners — Cheyne, Mike McLaughlin and Angela Caldwell — hope for a new chief to be selected “sometime in mid, late February.”

When Vahlkamp took over as chief, the Quincy Fire Department had 54 firefighters. Henning had as many as 69 firefighters during his tenure. Vahlkamp had to order Fire Station 6 to be closed twice in the first few months of becoming chief because of a lack of available firefighters.

As Vahlkamp walks away, the staff now is at 60 firefighters — 57 staff members and three administrators.

“I wanted to get our staffing level back to 19 per shift,” he said. “It gives us enough guys to have three per truck at every station and some people extra to cover for people being off. We still operate on an overtime budget. Essentially, it’s cheaper in the long run. As far as benefits and all that stuff goes, it’s a model that’s workable.”

Vahlkamp also was satisfied that he could secure funds to replace two of the Quincy Fire Department’s aging fire engines. The Quincy City Council approved in May 2023 to spend $1.182 million on two 2025 E-One fire trucks that the department won’t receive until next year. Two new engines were bought in 2019 when Henning was chief.

“At the time, we were able to work it through a buying program that got us two trucks at a discounted price,” Vahlkamp said. “They replace two of our older reserve apparatus which we can move off the line because they’re both more than 30 years old. 

“This brings us up to where four of our frontline apparatus (Engines 3, 4, 5, and 6) now are on the same platform. They have the same water capacity and the same compartment configuration. We’ve standardized all our tools. We’ve standardize all our hose loads. So it’ll be much easier going forward with maintenance requests out of Central Services. We’re set up the same and all the equipment is the same. We don’t mix and match things anymore.”

Before he leaves, Vahlkamp hopes to have policies and procedures updated in the department’s software management program which was first used two months ago.

Vahlkamp, a Quincy Notre Dame graduate, worked on water quality, EPA permitting and wetlands permitting for seven years as an environmental consultant for Hanson Engineers in Springfield. Too much travel and time away from his children — and Quincy — led to Vahlkamp looking for a more stable position in 1997.

His grandfather, Raymond “Penie” Vahlkamp, was a member of the Quincy Fire Department from 1946-69, and his father, Raymond “Skip” Vahlkamp, was an alderman from 1983-2011.

“I’d always been interested in the fire service, and with my grandpa, I’d always known about it,” Vahlkamp said. “It was discussed around the kitchen table at different times. I did always like the aspect of the biology side (of becoming a firefighter), and the medical services field always intrigued me. It just seemed to be a natural extension to come back.

“I always enjoyed the hands-on working with people, seeing the satisfaction of an instant return on what you’ve done, more so than writing a report and having it sitting on a shelf somewhere. Getting into the EMT and EMS side of the fire department was just something that intrigued me. The firefighting is exciting, don’t get me wrong, but the ability to go help people and even learn something new also was there.”

Vahlkamp was promoted to lieutenant in May 2002, captain in May 2009 and assistant chief in August 2015. Quincy has never hired someone outside of the Quincy Fire Department to be the city’s fire chief, and Vahlkamp would like to see it remain that way.

“There are some very highly qualified people in the department who are well deserving of the opportunity to test for (becoming chief) and would be very good at the role,” he said.

In the future, Vahlkamp says he would like to take advantage of his knowledge of “biology and chemistry stuff” he used at his old engineering job in Springfield.

“While I was still working (as a firefighter) and I was on my two days off, I was doing a lot of substitute teaching down at Quincy Notre Dame,” he said. “I could see myself probably going back into that type of stuff, just helping and working with kids and helping people out.”

The family name is still represented at the fire department. His youngest son, Zachary, was hired as a firefighter two years ago.

Vahlkamp said he’s enjoyed working with the aldermen, city administration, the Quincy Police Department and the Adams County Ambulance Service.

“Nothing about this job is forcing me to walk away,” he said. “I appreciate the opportunities I’ve had. I feel like this gave me a chance to raise my family here in Quincy and a place to call home.”