Officers

Phenixchief@gmail.com

Walt Bailey has been involved in the fire and rescue service for 49 years. He joined the Phenix Volunteer Fire Department in 1973 at age 14. Where he rose through the ranks becoming it’s Chief in 1983, a position he still holds today. He was a founding member of the Charlotte County Fire and Rescue Association, which he has been President of for          many years.

Walt has served in many roles around the state, Past President of the VA Fire Chiefs Association, Virginia Fire Services Board from 2013-2021, Chairman 2014-2021, and Reappointed to the Fire Services Board July 2022. He is a member of the Virginia Fire Services Council and he currently serves as Vice President of the Old Dominion EMS Council (ODEMSA). In addition to the fire service, he has been heavily involved in EMS for over 40 years and is a life member of the Charlotte County Volunteer Rescue Squad.

Walt was hired by the Lynchburg Fire Department in January 1981 where he rose through the ranks and retired after 32 years of service as the Deputy Chief of Operations. He was elected to the Charlotte County Board of Supervisors in 2021, where he serves on the public safety committee.

752 Poquoson Ave.
Poquoson, VA 23662
757-817-1874 Mobile
The3insleys@verizon.net 

Buster retired from the City of Poquoson Fire/Rescue in 2010 after 32 years of service as a career Fire Fighter. He holds numerous certificates from the Virginia Department of Fire Programs, as well as being Officer II.

He currently holds the following positions in the VSFA, Co-Chairman of the Rules and Contest Committee, a member of the Executive Committee, representative for district 10 and is a member of the VSFA Hall of Fame since 2003.

He currently serves as President of the Fire Fighters Association of Tidewater, is Chief of the Poquoson Volunteer Fire Company, where he has over 47 years of service and is a Life Member as well. He is also a Life Member of the Poquoson Volunteer Rescue Squad.

Buster is married to Patsy and they have 1 son, Michael, who is also a career Fire Fighter with the City of Poquoson Fire/Rescue as well as a volunteer. Michael is married to Devin and they have 2 sons, Carter who is 6 and Cooper who is 2. They all reside in the City of Poquoson.

P.O. Box 27
Carrsville, VA 23487
757-650-3129 Mobile
kduck@carrsvillevfd.com

 

Kevin is a lifelong resident of Isle of Wight County.   He is married to Jill, who he met when they were both Juniors in Windsor Volunteer Rescue Squad back in 1982.    He has two sons.  Justin is a Hampton Firefighter and is married to Nicole.  Trent is serving with the United States Coast Guard.

In 2008, Kevin began work with Chesterfield Insurers Fire and Rescue agency as an Account Executive.   Currently, in addition to his duties as account executive serving many clients in Virginia and North Carolina, he also serves as President and Principal of the Company.

Kevin started his years of volunteer services in 1981.   That year, he joined Carrsville Volunteer Fire Department as a firefighter and Windsor Volunteer Rescue Squad as an EMT.  After leaving Windsor VRS in 1983, he served with Nansemond Suffolk VRS for several years. He is still an active member of Carrsville Fire & Rescue, where he has served as Commissioner of Department continuously since 1993.  As Commissioner, he has served on the County Fire & Rescue Association, serving as Chair for several terms.   Also, as a part of his time on the Fire & Rescue Association, he served a term as a Charter Member of the Isle of Wight Radio Communications Board.

In 1984, Kevin joined Prince Edward Volunteer Rescue Squad in Farmville while attending Longwood.   For the next 4 years, he served as an appointed crew leader, elected Vice President and finally the first student to ever to be elected and serve as President for the agency.   He is still an associate member of the squad.

Kevin has served as an At Large Vice President for the Virginia Fire Chief’s Association Board of Directors since 2017.   While serving on the Board, he has served on the Nominating Committee, the Communications Committee, the 5K Committee and the Conference Committee.

In 2012, Kevin was appointed by President Gary Allred to serve the remaining term of Jack Finley for the 2^nd district Committeeman for the VSFA.    He has been reappointed by every president since to continue in that position.   At the membership meeting in 2021, he was elected to serve as the 3^rd Vice President of the Association.

Kevin has been a member of Woodland UMC since 1993 where he currently serves as Chair of the Church Trustees and was past Chair of the Church Council.   He is also a Master Mason with Purdie Lodge 170, AF&AM.

417 Linkenborough Dr.
Chesapeake, Va. 23322-0000
dcnichols@hamptonfire.org

David grew up and lived in the Wythe area of Hampton from 1967 to 2004 where he met and married his wife of 19 years Denee’. They reside in Chesapeake and have two daughters Jessica and Julia who are also members of the Fire Company.

David joined the Wythe Volunteer Fire Company & Rescue Squad in January of 1982. During his time with the Fire Company he also served as Captain of the Rescue Squad for more than 10 years, and President of the Fire Company for the past 20 plus years. He has worked on many projects in his 41 years, but as of late he is working on new fire apparatus and a new fire station for the Wythe district of Hampton. David is an active member within the Hampton Division of Fire-Rescue and still serves as President of the Fire Company. At the membership meeting in 2023, he was elected to serve as the 3^rd Vice President of the Association.

3420 Pump Road
PMB #127
Henrico, Va. 232333-1111
secretary@vsfa.org

Jacob Hooghouse attended Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) where he obtained his Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice with a minor concentration in Emergency Management. Upon graduation Jacob was hired by The Henrico County Sheriff’s Office where he served the citizens of Henrico County as a sworn Deputy Sheriff for approx. 4 years. During his time at The Henrico County Sheriff’s Office he briefly served on the Central Virginia All Hazards Incident Management Team (CVAHIMT) under the certifications VDEM- O305 & ICS 300. Shortly after obtaining his Virginia Property & Casualty Insurance License in January of 2018, Jacob left The Henrico County Sheriff’s Office in April of 2018. Jacob was then hired by Brown & Brown Insurance of VA as the successor and future lead producer on the Brown & Brown Insurance of VA: Emergency Service Organization Insurance Team. Jacob is now the lead producer of The Brown & Brown Insurance Emergency Service Organizations Insurance Team where he is actively serving as the Commercial Risk & Insurance Advisor for many Fire, Ambulance/Rescue, and other supporting entities all over the state. Both before and after college Jacob has served as a Volunteer Fire Fighter in Stafford County and Culpeper County and furthermore Jacob still actively volunteers at Little Fork Vol. Fire & Rescue in Culpeper County.

4292 Dry Valley Road
Radford, VA 24141
540-230-2052
Treasurer@vsfa.org

Patrick Saylors first began his volunteer fire fighting career with the Riner Volunteer Fire Department 32 years ago.  He received many certifications such as Firefighting I, II and III as well as several in Hazardous Materials.  He is certified in EVOC and obtained his EMT license in 1991 which he still maintains today.   He served as Engineer for his department and is currently the Treasurer, an office he has held for the past 27 years.

Pat has a great talent for wood working and has built many beautiful pieces of furniture. He also likes gardening.

He is an active member of Auburn Baptist Church and is the Chaplain for the Virginia Lung Transplant Foundation.

Pat is married to Becky and they have two grown daughters, Brooke and Katie. They reside in Riner which is in Montgomery County.

11060 Wentworth Drive
Broadway, Va. 22815
757-869-7123
ljbigdogdj@verizon.net

Dale Jamison serves as the Chaplain of the Virginia State Firefighter’s Association, having been elected to this position in 2014. He has served as an assistance chaplain for many years prior and served on numerous committees for the VSFA since 1986. He has completed training and is a certified Emergency Service Chaplain and completed a class, “Chaplains in the Fire Services” with NVFC. With Dale’s move to Broadway, Virginia, he has become a member of the Broadway Volunteer Fire Department, Station 50 and is serving as their Chaplain. Dale is Life member of the Poquoson Volunteer Fire and Volunteer Rescue Squad. He has been a member of both organizations since 1980 and has completed many certifications including FF-III. He is a past instructor for the American Red Cross and  was an EVOC instructor for several years. He has held various positions in both organizations as vice president, secretary and chaplain if the PVFCo. , and as secretary, treasurer, captain and chaplain of the PVRS. He is a past President, secretary and treasurer of the Firefighter’s Assocition of Tidewter Virginia. Dale is a certified Lay Servant with the UMC, trained as a Stephens Ministry counselor, served for 35 years in the Boy Scouts of America and as Scouting Coordinator at TUMC in Poquoson and as the York District Scouting Coordinator for the UMC for many years. During his years in scouting he held numerous positions in Scouting at TUMC and the Boy Scout Colonial Council of Va. District, where he earned numerous awards and recognitions for his service. He has also received numerous recognitions from the City of Poquoson for his community services.  He served as a member of the Poquoson Ruritan Club for 20 years and as president for  17 of those years. He also served many years as either the Zone 8 Governor or Lt. Governor for the Chesapeake Ruritan District of Virginia.

Dale is retired along with his wife, Linda of 50 years and are both orginally from the Shenandoah Valley and living in the Mayland near Broadway, he has one son Jonathan and a grandson, Micah who live in Poquoson.

13934 Deviar Dr.
Centreville, Va. 20120
703-815-0444
president@vsfa.org

Pete Kirby has been delivering emergency services in Virginia since 1976.  During this time, Pete served 22 years with the Fairfax County Police Department in Fairfax, Virginia where his roles included law enforcement officer, public safety telecommunications officer, training coordinator, criminal justice services instructor, and 9-1-1 emergency communications supervisor.  He also performed duties related to emergency management, disaster operations, and quality assurance program design and development.

Concurrently, Pete has served for more than 46 years in the volunteer fire service.  He was a member of the Vienna Volunteer Fire Department in Fairfax County, Virginia, for 14 years, departing as a Fire Captain specializing in fire prevention and suppression, emergency medical services, and managing career and volunteer relationship issues.  Pete also served as a unit officer for the Fairfax County Fire & Rescue Department during his tour at Vienna.

After moving his family from Vienna, in 1990, Pete joined the Centreville Volunteer Fire Department in Fairfax County, Virginia.  While at Centreville, Pete rose through the ranks to become Fire Chief for the Department, a role he held for 16 years, and was promoted to serve as a command officer for the Fairfax County Fire & Rescue Department.  He is an apprentice All-Hazards Type III Communications Unit Leader, and he has served in command roles for numerous fires, hazardous materials emergencies, and mass casualty incidents.  He has played key roles in planning and executing scheduled and emergency operations for local special events.

In addition to his first responder roles, Pete served four terms as a Fire Commissioner, appointed by the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors.  He led the reorganization, and then served as the President, of the Fairfax County Volunteer Fire and Rescue Association.  Pete served as a peer Equal Opportunity counselor for the Fairfax County Fire & Rescue Department.

Pete became active in the Virginia State Firefighters Association after attending the 100th Annual Convention at Covington.  Since November 2007, he has served as the 12th District executive representative to the Virginia State Firefighters’ Association, covering five cities and six counties in Northern Virginia.  He has served with the By Laws, Communications, Membership Recruitment and Retention, and Vision 2020 Committees, and is a judge for the annual Fire Truck Rodeo hosted by the VSFA.  He was elected President for the VSFA in September 2021.

Pete is a public safety consultant for the firm of Booz Allen Hamilton.  Pete is also an adjunct instructor for the National Domestic Preparedness Training Center, operated by the University of Hawai’i, teaching disaster readiness courses across the U.S. as assigned.  He enjoys cycling, hiking, and local, state, and national history, and is a fan of antique, classic, fire service, and military vehicles.  He and his wife, Lauren, live in Centreville, and they have two sons.

4 Tabatha Circle
Hampton, Va. 23666
757-810-8335
lsgwaltney@cox.net

 

Larry retired from the Hampton Division of Fire & Rescue in 2009 as the Assistant Chief in charge of Logistics, after 24.5 years. He has served as a member of the Wythe Volunteer Fire Company & Rescue Squad for over 50 years, serving in every administrative officer position in the company, and is currently serving as Deputy Chief, Treasurer and Chaplain. As an adjunct instructor for many years, he has delivered training classes throughout the tidewater region and in other areas of the Commonwealth.

He is past President of the Firefighters Association of Tidewater and the Virginia State Firefighters Association. He has served on many boards and committees. He was appointed by the Governor and served two terms on the Commonwealth of Virginia Public Safety Medal of Valor Board.

He has a Bachelor of Science degree in Fire Administration from Hampton University where he graduated Suma Cum Laude. He is a graduate of the Executive Fire Officer Program (EFO) from the National Fire Academy.

Larry is married to Carol and they reside in Hampton. They have one adult son.