North Carolina Department To Get New Chief

Mount Holly has offered the job of city fire chief to Dale Oplinger, the chief of a volunteer fire department in Lansing, N.Y., and a fire safety employee at Cornell University.

Oplinger, 37, would take the reins in early September, conditional on a drug test and a background check, according to City Manager David Kraus. He would earn $48,000 a year.

Mount Holly has two fire stations staffed by a total of 15 full-time employees, and one station with about 45 volunteers. The department has an annual budget of about $1 million.

Kraus said the city liked Oplinger because the department wants to focus on training and development, and Oplinger has experience working with both volunteers and full-time employees.

Oplinger has worked for 21 years as a volunteer firefighter in Lansing, which sits at the base of the Finger Lakes in western New York. He has been chief of the 60-person volunteer corps for almost four years. He has worked at Cornell for about as long, inspecting and maintaining fire safety equipment.

Oplinger's father and grandfather served before him as chiefs of the Lansing department. His father now lives in Harrisburg in Cabarrus County. But Oplinger will become the first member of the family to work as a professional firefighter, and he said he was "real excited" for the chance.

Scott Purcell, an assistant chief with the Lansing department, said Oplinger deserved the job.

"His whole life is emergency services," Purcell said. "He's always taken the whole thing on a professional level. I'm excited for him and sad to see him go."