Former Villages Fire Chief Mike Tucker is one of two finalists for the position of fire chief with the Pinellas Suncoast Fire and Rescue District.
Tucker, currently the safety program manager for the Florida Bureau of Fire Standards in Ocala, resigned from the Villages Public Safety Department earlier this year.
Salvatore D’Angelo, deputy chief of fire operations and fleet for the North Naples Fire Control and Rescue District, is the other finalist.
It appears a decision on the position could be made in September.
The new chief will succeed former Chief Robert Polk, who retired July 4.
Tucker, an Oxford resident, received a glowing review from his former boss, District Manager Janet Tutt.
“It was my privilege to work with Chief Tucker for more than eight years,” Tutt wrote. “Considering that the Public Safety Department is one of the most integral parts of the community, I was impressed with Chief Tucker’s leadership style, management ability and interpersonal skills.”
Tucker was fire chief in The Villages from 2001 to earlier this year when he resigned.
In 2011, he was named fire chief of the year for the Florida Fire Chiefs Association.
Tucker had been arrested on a felony battery charge in January, but that charge was later dropped.
The Pinellas Suncoast Fire & Rescue District has 38 employees and two fire stations. The district covers the municipalities of Belleair Beach, Belleair Shore, Indian Rocks Beach, and Indian Shores and an area of the unincorporated mainland.