Evansville commission reviews recruit testing, promotions and approves three civilian merit awards

The Evansville Fire Merit Commission at its July 8 meeting heard personnel updates, reviewed the current recruit-testing pipeline and approved three civilian merit awards for a July presentation.

Fire Chief (name not specified) announced the retirement of instructor Dan Brown after 25 years of service and said the commission held three promotion ceremonies that morning: Inspector Mike Dorn was promoted to instructor, Lieutenant Jamie Phillips was promoted to inspector, and Firefighter Colton Blanchard was promoted to lieutenant. The chief also said recruit training is proceeding: one recruit group will finish EMT testing July 25 and graduate, and a subsequent recruit class will begin a 10‑week fire training course.

A staff member reported that 154 candidates took the written test in the current cycle and 90 passed and will move to the oral interview stage. The staff member noted historical hiring patterns and recommended against establishing a formal cut score on oral interviews, saying that past cycles have not hired anyone who scored less than 60 and that candidates below that score tend to rank toward the bottom of the lists. “My recommendation…if you guys were, you know, wanted it was gonna be 60. So my opinion is I don't think we need a cut score,” the staff member said. Commissioner Fetcher described the situation as “a solution looking for a problem.”

The commission also approved awards recommended by the civilian awards merit committee. According to the incident report distributed to commissioners, three civilians intervened when a person went under water; one witness saw the person go under, and two others assisted to keep the victim's head above water until help arrived. A commissioner moved to accept the committee’s recommendation to present three civilian merit awards; the motion was seconded and approved by voice vote.

The commission approved the minutes of the June 10, 2025 meeting by voice vote earlier in the session. Members were told budget requests have been submitted to the mayor’s office and controller’s office and a meeting with those offices is scheduled at 3 p.m. on July 22. The commission also set its next meeting for Thursday, Aug. 14 in City Council Chambers, Room 301; the department will hold an awards ceremony before that meeting.

No personnel appointments requiring a formal vote were made during the meeting; the retirements and promotions were announced by the chief. The commission did not set a cut score for the oral interview process at this meeting.