LAKELAND, Fla. — Polk County Fire Rescue's interim chief has been busy this past month, working to repair the agency's image after an investigation into a fatal fire last November led to a fire captain resigning and the previous chief retiring.

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Robert Weech was promoted to interim fire chief on May 8, 2019. Previously he'd served as the agency's deputy fire chief for logistics and special services.

A firefighter since 1999, he worked in Deerfield Beach, Florida before joining Polk County Fire in 2017. 

His promotion within the agency comes on the heels of an outside review which included 24 recommendations for how the agency could improve. 

Weech called the past two weeks "hectic," as his entire staff analyzed the report and determined what could be accomplished. 

“I've got the whole staff looking at that," he explained. "We put the report out at every fire station so they have the ability to read it and make the changes themselves."

Some of the findings included items such as:

  • firefighters not be able to find the address for the fatal fire that started the investigation
  • equipment such as computers not being charged or functional
  • response times longer than county guidelines, and
  • not enough adequate training 

Weech said he’s working to address staffing issues and adding personnel in order to keep up with the growth in the county. 

“I’m also working on trying to get the community feeling good about the fire department," Weech said. "I don’t think that’s broken — I think the community does have an appreciation for the effort and the commitment we make to them. I think that’s a little bit bruised and we’re definitely working on mending those fences."

“One of my personal goals is getting our people feeling good about what they do again," he went on. "For us, we have make adjustments. I’m not looking at a total rebuild. I’m looking at adjustments for improvement and I think my people will help in that, because they’ve accepted those challenges.”

The outside review and report, conducted by Emergency Services Consultants International, cost the county nearly $39,000. We asked the new chief if he thought the review was a good use of taxpayer dollars. 

“I do. I do. I do," he said. "It’s a road to improvement and I think what this community deserves is a high performing fire department. It’s what they pay for and what they expect."

The report stressed the need for the agency to obtain its own training facility. Weech said the agency’s leadership would be discussing the report with the Polk County Commission during a commission meeting in June to come up with ways to address the recommendations.