County swears in new fire chief

Chesterfield County swore in its fifth fire chief, Edward L. “Loy” Senter, Jr., a native of Virginia Beach, on Friday, June 26.

Senter entered the field of fire and emergency medical services (EMS) at the age of fifteen, when he volunteered with the local Chesapeake Beach Volunteer Fire and Rescue Department. After graduating from high school, Senter became a licensed firefighter, serving the Norfolk/ Virginia Beach area until he was promoted to fire chief of Norfolk in 2003.

He was hired by Chesterfield County in November 2008. Since then, local firefighters and county administrators have praised his leadership.

During the swearing-in ceremony, County Administrator James “Jay” Stegmaier said that Senter has “a quick grasp of a lot of the issues. I am excited about the direction [Senter] is moving this department.”

Now splitting his allegiances between Norfolk Fire and EMS and Chesterfield, Senter said, Chesterfield “welcomed me as if I were a life long member” although he had been with the Norfolk Fire Department for the majority of his life. “I look forward to serving the Chesterfield community for many years to come,” he added.

As part of the ceremony, Chesterfield Fire and EMS also honored those who had recently been promoted.

Two members of the Midlothian Volunteer Fire Department, Philip Harding and Billy Hux, were promoted to Volunteer Lieutenant.

“I’ve been here since 1998,” Hux said. “I guess I wanted to help people, if you want a typical answer. But I am also following a childhood dream,” he said. Hux is currently president of the Midlothian Volunteer Fire Department and serves as a training officer.

Philip Harding, who has been volunteering since 2001, has previously served as both president and vice president of the Midlothian Volunteer Fire Department. He is now a fire instructor and is responsible for building maintenance, among a host of other activities.

“9/11 was a wake up call for me,” Harding said, who joined the fire department in November after the World Trade Center attacks. “On top of that, I had gone by one too many accident scenes and I just wanted to be able to help.”

Harding’s son, Chris, a 2006 Midlothian High School graduate, also works as a firefighter in Bon Air.