Longtime Ralston firefighter Joe Eischeid is the new chief of the Ralston Volunteer Fire Department.
In the aftermath of the death last month of Kyle Ienn, who had served 10 years as RVFD chief, Eischeid, as assistant chief under Ienn, was named acting chief before a special election of the RVFD membership last Tuesday gave him the official title.
"It'll be a bit of a learning process," Eischeid said after his election. "I'm still figuring out all about insurance and the budget and all that, but I think we're in a good position. We're doing a good job moving forward."
Eischeid has served on the department for more than 30 years, starting shortly after his graduation from Ralston High School in 1981.
He initially served 17 years with RVFD and then took retired status, but continued to respond to calls. He retook active status in 2008 when he was elected assistant chief, a position he has held for the last four years and also at various points in his RVFD tenure.
Eischeid has also held the posts of sergeant at arms, fire instructor, fire inspector, rescue captain and second assistant chief.
He was RVFD Firefighter of the Year in 1986 and 1995 and winner of the department's most prestigious award, the L.V. "Pete" Peterson Award in 2009.
Most recently, he was the department's top responder in 2011, taking part in 418 out of RVFD's 932 calls.
In addition to his role with the fire department, Eischeid was also a Ralston Public Works employee early in his professional life and served on the Ralston Police Department, first as a reserve officer from 1987 to 1993, then as a full-time officer from 1993 to 2003.
He has been employed as a police officer with the Omaha Police Department since 2003.
"Joe is a dedicated public servant in Ralston for many, many years and he'll make a great fire chief," Ralston Mayor Don Groesser said. "We, everyone in the city government, look forward to working with him."
In taking over the role of chief, Eischeid takes over a 45-member department that more than doubled in size under Ienn.
Ienn sought Federal Emergency Management Agency grants to recruit and retain membership in the department and also saw RVFD's response times dwindle while calls for service increased.
Eischeid said he intends to continue the trends set by his predecessor and said the department is already aiming at another six members coming on the squad in June.
"I think we'll continue to work on getting new members, keeping the members we have," Eischeid said. "That's been good for the department."
In the three weeks since Ienn's death, Eischeid said the department is recovering after the sudden and tragic loss of its leader in an apparent suicide on Jan. 31.
"Everyone knows there's still a job to do," he said. "It was rough at first, but I think everyone's started to deal with it and can see that it will get better.
"We're just trying to keep moving forward."
Eischeid said the RVFD membership will hold a second special election early next month to select Eischeid's replacement as the department's assistant chief.
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