The City of Savannah announced on Friday that Savannah Fire Chief Elzie Kitchen resigned from his post, effective immediately. Kitchen has served the City of Savannah since 1998.
The city shared that Deputy Fire Chief William Handy was named Interim Savannah Fire Chief. Chief Handy has served Savannah Fire for 29 years throughout the department. Handy has been the assistant fire chief for seven years before his promotion in 2024.
City Manager Jay Melder thanked Kitchen for his many years of service. “On Friday, I accepted Chief Kitchen’s resignation due to personal matters and thanked him for his many years of dutiful service to the City of Savannah,” Melder said. “Deputy Chief Handy has my full trust to lead the Savannah Fire Department in this interim period.”
The city has begun its search for a new fire chief. All fire operations will resume as normal.
