Assistant Chief Danny Poole cuts the cake celebrating his 45 years of service. Deputy City Manager Tansy Hayward watches in the background.
Assistant Chief Danny Poole is celebrating a milestone only a few people achieve: He’s served his community for 45 years. Poole began his career with the Raleigh Fire Department on Sept. 18, 1978, and he is the longest-serving member of the department. (He passed Assistant Chief James Burnette, who retired after 43 years in the 1970s, in longevity already in 2022.) The Raleigh Fire Department organized a surprise party for Poole on Thursday.
Presently, Chief Poole is Raleigh Fire Department’s logistics chief. The Logistics Division provides supplies and equipment for fire suppression and emergency response conducted by the department. Quite fittingly, on his actual work anniversary, Poole was in Wisconsin purchasing a fire apparatus.
During his remarkable career, Poole has served in a variety of roles. He was one of the first Raleigh firefighters to receive an EMT certification and he was a founding member of the department’s hazardous materials and urban search and rescue programs.
Before taking the reins of the Logistics Division, Poole was the fire department’s professional development chief and operations chief. As he rose through the chief ranks, he continued to maintain the certifications he has earned throughout his extensive career.
“I was not surprised that after more than four decades of dedicated service to the City of Raleigh and Raleigh Fire Department, Chief Poole sought and obtained the prestigious Chief Fire Officer designation from the Center for Public Safety Excellence,” Fire Chief Herbert Griffin says.
“Chief Poole is one of 1,833 total Chief Fire Officers across the United States recognized as having excellence in career growth. Not only has Chief Poole been a valuable colleague, but I also consider him a friend and my Raleigh historian.”