The Janesville Police and Fire Commission has narrowed a list of 32 fire chief applicants to five finalists.
The finalists include Interim Fire Chief Jim Ponkauskas, who is now in charge of the department after Randy Banker officially retired Friday.
The commission selected the finalists during a mostly closed-session meeting last week.
The other finalists besides Ponkauskas are Baker City, Oregon Fire Chief John C. Clark, retired Bloomingdale, Illinois deputy fire chief Donald J. Kaderabek, former Manchester, Missouri West County EMS and Fire Protection District fire chief Ernest G. Rhodes III, DeKalb, Illinois deputy fire chief James P. Zarek
The police and fire commission worked with GovHR, a consulting company, to help whittle the number of fire chief candidates to five. GovHR will conduct tests January 29th, with the finalists, and the commission will interview each of them the next day.
