T-L Photo/ROBERT A. DEFRANK John Slavik, right, is interim fire chief for the Cumberland Trail Fire District, with Timothy Hall as assistant chief.

ST. CLAIRSVILLE — Longtime firefighter John Slavik, with almost 40 years of experience in the field, accepted the role of interim fire chief for the Cumberland Trail Fire District with Assistant Chief Tim Hall as his second in command.

Former Fire Chief Lance Rice had approached the district board and asked to step down from the position to devote further attention to personal and family matters. He will resume his role as a full-time firefighter. Councilman Frank Sabatino commended Rice’s service helming the department for the past three years.

Slavik, a native of St. Clairsville, is bringing his expertise in the field back to the city.

“I grew up in St. Clairsville, and I first started with the St. Clairsville Volunteer Fire Department in 1977,” he said, adding that he moved to the Washington, D.C., area in 1982 with the goal of pursuing a career in firefighting.

His resume includes two years working as a firefighter for the Department of Defense at Quantico, the Army, and then the Washington D.C. Fire Department, retiring in 2013. Slavik noted he has experience in engine companies and rescue companies, as well as in training and setting policy.

“A heavy emphasis on training — a lot of committees that set the groundwork for saving other firefighters,” Slavik said of his past service.

He has conducted training both for rookie firefighters and in-service training for longtime firefighters.

“I’ve been an instructor the last 21 years in the fire service,” Slavik said, adding that he also has a strong background in hazardous materials incidents.

He has worked in city and suburban settings.

“I’ve maintained a membership in volunteer departments in the suburbs. I got to take my expertise there and got some command experience in those suburbs,” he said.

“A fire in Washington, D.C., or Brooklyn is the same as a house fire in St. Clairsville. The building needs the same attention, but we have different limitations on manpower, and this is where my experience as a volunteer with low manpower (comes in) and best practices. We’re going to continue the excellent fire service here. I actually think our emergency medical services here, what I’ve witnessed, are better than what we have in Washington, D.C.

“This is my 40th year in the fire service, and I’ve never quit being a firefighter even when I retired,” he said, adding that although he had left the area, he remained in touch. “I’ve never lost contact with this place. I’m not coming into this position blind. I know all these guys, and that helps me and it might help them.”

Slavik added that he has taken the helm of a highly skilled operation.

“I’m very impressed with the employees I inherited,” he said. “I think we’re on the right direction already.”

Slavik said he looks forward to dealing with the challenges posed by servicing the area.

“Our district continues to grow,” he said. “From a standpoint of EMS delivery, it seems like we get busier every year and we have new challenges with the drug epidemic and we’re trying to stay ahead of that curve.”

He is unsure if he will seek to transfer from interim to permanent fire chief.

Slavik said Hall will be invaluable in the assistant chief’s role. Hill was promoted from within the Cumberland Trail District, where he has worked since 2006. He has 12 years of experience in the field of firefighting.

“That made this easier,” Slavik said. “In some ways I’m an outsider and in some ways I’m not, since I kept in touch with these guys and I started here, but he bridges myself and the existing force together. He’s an exceptional young firefighter.”

Hall commended the quality of the firefighters.

“I’m just excited to get to work, and I think we have an excellent group of guys here. It’s going to make my job, as well as the rest of the administration’s job, pretty easy. It’s a good core group of people to work with,” he said.