Ten men and one women are being interviewed this week as Lafayette officials continue the search for a new Fire Chief.
The process began last fall, when long-time Chief Robert Benoit announced his retirement.
Here are the candidates and a bit of information from their resumes. If you want to read their entire resumes, scroll down. Personal information, like telephone numbers or social security numbers, have been redacted from these resumes.
- Loyd Denais currently is a Captain with the Lafayette Fire Department. He's been a firefighter with Lafayette since 2005. He's a graduate of Comeaux High School and LSU at Eunice.
- Alton Trahan currently is Fire Investigation Chief with the Lafayette Fire Department, and he also serves as Public Information Officer. He's been a member of the Lafayette Fire Department since 1991. He has a Master's degree from Southern University, a Bachelor's degree from UL and an associate degree from LSU at Eunice.
- Earl Borden Jr. currently is Fire Chief of the St. Bernard Parish Fire Department, where he has worked since 2004. He also serves as an adjunct faculty member of Upper Iowa University in New Orleans. He has a Master's degree from Oklahoma State University, a Bachelor's degree from Upper Iowa University and currently is pursuing a Doctor of Education degree from the University of Souther California.
- Jason Boudreaux currently is Assistant Fire Chief of the Lafayette Fire Department, where he has worked since 1991. He is a graduate of Acadiana High School and LSU at Eunice. He served on the Lafayette Fire and Police Civil Service Board as the fire department's representative for 13 years.
- Rodolphe Toranto Jr. currently is a fire training officer with the New Orleans Fire Department and a program coordinator for LSU at Eunice. He worked for the New Orleans department from 1992 to 2019. He has a bachelor's degree from UNO, an associate's degree from Delgado and a Master's degree from LSU at Shreveport.
- Chris Domingue currently is a deputy fire chief for the Scott Fire Department, where he has served since 1979. He also worked for the Lafayette Fire Department from 1983 until 2020. He is a graduate of Acadiana High School and LSU at Eunice.
- Mary Nell Harper retired as an Assistant Chief of the Lafayette Fire Department in 2022; she began working as a firefighter there in 1988. She has associate degrees from UL and from LSU at Eunice.
- Byron "Lane" Perry Jr. currently serves as a Fire Captain with the Lafayette Fire Department, where he has worked since 2000. He also has owned and operated his own construction company since 2003, and worked as a lab technician from 1995 to 2001. He holds a Bachelor's degree from UL.
- Brandon Finfrock currently serves as District Chief for the Lafayette Fire Department, where he has worked since 1995. He also currently serves as a firefighter for the Broussard Fire Department, where he has worked since 2012, and as a planning manager for the Regional Response team. He's a graduate of Comeaux High School and LSU at Eunice.
- Troy Gauthier currently serves as Training Chief for the Lafayette Fire Department, where he has worked since 1990. He also has worked for the Acadiana Safety Association, LSU and the Bureau of EMS. He is a graduate of LSU at Eunice and SLCC.
- Quentin Meullion currently serves as Airport Deputy Fire Chief for the Maryland Aviation Administration in Baltimore, where he has worked since 2019. He also serves as Fire Chief for the Glenn Dale Fire Association in Prince George's County in Maryland, where he has served since 2007. He has served as an instructor at the Unversity of Maryland's Fire & Rescue Institute since 2014 and at Prince George's Community College since 2015. For 16 years, he was a teacher in Prince George's County Public Schools. He has a Bachelor's degree from Grambling and a Master's degree from Waldorf University in Iowa.
Here are the full resumes, including the cover letters:
