Young To Begin Tenure As New Cookeville Fire Chief

Cookeville Fire Chief Benton Young will serve his first day as the official chief on Monday.

Young has served as the interim chief since Daryl Blair’s retirement in July. He said that it’s an honor to serve the men and women of the department he’s worked for for the past 26 years.

“It’s something I’ve wanted to do from a child my mother used to bring to this department and play with the truck just like we have kids do now. I started as a volunteer when I was 18 years old with the Putnam County Fire Department, and that led me to pursue this career.”

Young said that he has several goals for his tenure. For now, he said that they’re looking at some changes in operation and more medical response trucks. He said that any of the minor issues the department had have since been resolved during his interim period.

“We’ve got one of the best departments,” Young said. “I’d put them up against anybody, anywhere, in any other department. We have excellent people here, and we’re very blessed to have that. I’m just looking forward to leading this department into the future and getting it on the course it should be on for the next 20 years.”