HAILEY, Idaho (CBS 2) — The Hailey Mayor announced his selection for the new fire chief Monday.

Mike Baledge, currently serving as deputy fire chief and fire marshall was chosen out of the 20 candidates.

Baledge has 24 years of fire experience. He has a lot of experience with a combination fire department that relies significantly on volunteers or paid per call firefighters.

“our best emergency response is with paid per call firefighters because they bring with them all the expertise of their trades, as well as their emergency response training,” Baledge said.

He began his fire services career as a volunteer and moved through the ranks from a paid-per-call volunteer to Deputy Chief, holding various leadership ranks and positions along the way, including serving as an officer for 17 years.

Baledge is a State of Idaho EMT/Instructor, and trains the community in CPR through various venues. He teaches firefighter essentials through the local firefighting academy, which trains new prospective firefighter every January. He holds a national wildland Type 5 Incident Command certification and functions as engine boss and squad boss when deployed on wildland fires.

Exiting Hailey Fire Chief Craig Aberbach worked with a staff team to review the applications and identify the top five candidates. Mayor Haemmerle and mayor-elect Martha Burke interviewed three Idaho candidates.

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