History

Prior to the creation of the full time Paris Fire Department in September, 1960; fire protection within the City of Paris was provided by volunteers.  The Paris Volunteer Fire Department was organized on February 16, 1934, with fifteen members accepting the “Articles of Agreement”.

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The first Fire Chief of the career department was John McClure, who served from 1960 to 1982.  The new department began with a small staff of firefighters and expanded to the current level of twenty four by the early 1970’s.  Upon the retirement of Chief McClure, George Atkins was appointed Chief and served until his retirement at the end of 2000.

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At that time, Don Cox was appointed Chief by the Paris Board of Commissioners and served until his retirement in June, 2008.  In July 2008, Michael Williams, Sr. was appointed Chief and has led the Department since that time.