The Virginia Beach Fire Department has a new deputy chief.
Richard Vance Cooper, a district chief for the past nine years, was promoted to deputy fire chief of services, the department announced this week. He will begin the position June 7.
Cooper has been with the Virginia Beach Fire Department since 1990. He is a task force leader for FEMA’s Virginia Task Force 2 Urban Search and Rescue Team, and is a graduate of the National Fire Academy’s Executive Fire Officer Program. He is also accredited as a chief fire officer, a graduate of the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, and has completed the West Point School of Leadership, according to a release.
