CSVFD elects new fire chief

By Emily Hilley-Sierzchula

At an executive session last month during a business meeting, the board of directors for the Cottonwood Shores Volunteer Fire Department voted to oust Heather Hyslop, its former chief, and promote Travis Hockensmith to fire chief from assistant fire chief.

Hyslop, who is still on the roster as a firefighter and goes on calls, had been fire chief since January.

“It just wasn’t working,” Hyslop said. “As fire chief, I was responsible for both positive and negative things within the department, but I wasn’t made aware of some things that were happening.”

Hyslop said she wanted to work out her issues with the board, but they were "not conducive" to her ideas, which included bringing in more outside instructors and increasing training in communication and chain of command structures.

“I told the board that if they weren’t going to follow orders and do things in a professional way then they should remove me from the fire chief position,” she said. “I didn’t want to be responsible for the way things were going.”

For more on this story, see Friday's Highlander.