The Columbus City Council broke from a long hiring tradition when it voted to hire Charles Yarbrough as the city’s fire chief in March.

Yarbrough was chosen over Alan Lewis, the department’s training officer, by a 4-3 vote.

In hiring Yarbrough, the city hired a chief from outside the department for the first time in at least 60 years.

The four previous fire chiefs had all been longtime members of the department. When James Massey was elevated to chief in 1990, he had 25 years in the department. His successor, Ken Moore, had been Massey’s assistant fire chief nine years before he took over as chief in 2014. Moore’s successor, Martin Andrews, was assistant chief for nine years before retiring in 2022. Finally, Dwane Hughes served as Andrews’ assistant chief for six years prior to being elevated to chief in 2022.

Suffice to say, familiarity with the fire department had not been an issue for Columbus fire chiefs for 60 years. In all those transitions, there was an assistant chief with years of service in the department waiting in the wings to become fire chief, ensuring continuity in the department from decade to decade.

That would not be the case after Hughes’ retirement since there was no assistant chief in the department during Hughes’ tenure.

During Tuesday’s meeting, the city council approved Yarbrough’s request to promote Lewis to assistant chief.

We believe this is good for the department and the community for several reasons.

First of all, it’s a goodwill gesture on Yarbrough’s part. Any time an outside candidate is chosen over a colleague, there is the potential for hard feelings. We believe Yarbrough is sending a message that Lewis has an important role to play in the department.

We also believe promoting Lewis will provide something Yarbrough doesn’t have – institutional knowledge. Knowing the firefighters and understanding how the department operates, the challenges it has faced and the nuanced differences between fire departments are invaluable to Yarbrough, whose nine years as Starkville fire chief give him experience but not familiarity. Often, a person in a new role does not grasp the unintended consequences of a decision. Having an assistant who understands the “Columbus nuances” of situations can prevent those missteps.

A trusted assistant to confer with and share administrative duties will help Yarbrough immeasurably during his transition to a new role in a new city.

It will also give the city the option of elevating the assistant fire chief to the top job when Yarbrough’s time as chief has ended.

That’s not guaranteed, of course. But it is a Columbus tradition.