Getting to know Ocean Springs new Fire Chief, Ryan Heath

18 years ago, in 2006, Ryan Heath took an oath to serve the city of Ocean Springs as a firefighter. Now, he’s taken an oath to serve the community as their fire chief.

“It didn’t take me but about a month to realize that this is what I wanted to do, and it’s what I’ve been doing ever since,” Fire Chief Ryan Heath said.

Ever since that first month as a firefighter, Ryan Heath has held multiple ranks in the Ocean Springs Fire Department.

“I feel like every time I’ve been able to move up in rank it’s allowed me a better opportunity to make positive changes here in our department, and that’s what I plan to do,” Heath said.

Heath has big shoes to fill with former fire chief Derek McCoy retiring, but he was able to learn from the best – McCoy himself.

“Regardless of what was going on in his life, work life, he was always that rock for this department,” he said. “Was a great problem solver, really knew how to talk to people, and those are the things I want to bring to this role and really inspire to be.”

Stepping into a new leadership role is certainly easier with a phenomenal team.

“It is my firm belief that this is one of the greatest departments in the state of Mississippi, and that credit goes to the people who work here. There is a bunch of fine men and women, highly skilled, highly trained, and I really look forward to joining hands with them and finding better and more efficient ways to serve this community.”

With that being said, the new fire chief is looking forward to establishing goals with his team.

“I think that improvement is the keyword. There’s a saying in this profession that if you’re not always learning, then you’re dying. You know, coming into this position making a bunch of drastic changes is not something that’s on the table for me. Do I want to make some changes? Yes, and we will. But we’re going to make those changes over time and most importantly we’re going to make those changes together.”

Heath says he plans on working in a fire department until the day he retires.