The Valmeyer Fire Department had a change in leadership early this week as its longtime fire chief stepped down from the position he’s held for 30 years.

Valmeyer Fire Chief Floyd Floarke stepped down at a department meeting Monday evening, opening the position for Nathan Wilson, who’s been with the department for over a decade.

As Wilson described, he was born and raised in Monroe County, growing up and attending school in Valmeyer before attending high school in Waterloo.

Wilson attended Southwestern Illinois College for a time, and though he did not receive an associate’s degree, he did accrue a number of credit hours pertaining to fire science.

Wilson wound up joining the Valmeyer Fire Department in 2011 and has served as assistant chief for a year and a half prior to his recent appointment as chief.

When asked about his interest in serving with the department, Wilson emphasized the sense of duty he feels for his hometown.

“Just a desire to serve my community, and I’ve seen the need in Valmeyer for volunteer firemen,” Wilson said. “It’s just been a desire and a passion of mine to help out in my community and do the best I can to help protect people’s property.”

He also offered a brief recollection of his time with the department so far. While he didn’t describe any particular incident he and his peers have responded to, he did speak to the many instances the department has played a pivotal role in keeping members of the community safe.

“There have been numerous occasions where, if it wasn’t for the Valmeyer Fire Department, the person may have lost their life, or their house may have been completely destroyed due to a fire,” Wilson said. “We’ve had several instances where we were able to get in there and save their house, save their property with just minimal damage and also save lives, and that’s what it’s all about.”

Wilson’s discussion about the department also briefly touched on the constant need for additional support.

Like countless other volunteer fire departments in the county, state and country, Valmeyer could do with more folks on the team as, even with 35 volunteers on the roster, the department can get stretched thin.

“Not everybody is available to be there,” Wilson said. “Everybody works jobs during the daytime and stuff like that. Having more guys on gives us more of a diversity to have guys available during the day, evenings, weekends so that we never have a time where we’re really short-staffed.”

Wilson also had plenty of kind words to say about his predecessor.

While the new leadership might seem abrupt for folks in the community, Wilson said the change has actually been a topic of conversation for some time.

As he said, Floarke had spoken about his potential departure three years ago, with talks starting up again in January. With the department’s annual vote for internal positions taking place Monday, Floarke took the chance to step down while Wilson stepped in.

“He was chief for 30 years, did a great job,” Wilson said. “It just came to that point where it was time for a change in leadership in the department, and Floyd was ready to step back and I was ready to step up. He did a great job serving our community for 30 years as fire chief.”

Looking ahead, Wilson expressed high hopes for the VFD, adding that his fellow volunteers are excited about their future working together.

“I’ve tried my whole service in the fire service to do the best and excel and learn and train and achieve,” Wilson said. “I’m just gonna continue to do that.”

Floarke did not respond to requests for comment.