Retired Rose Hill Fire Chief James Woydziak has been named the Interim Wellington Fire/EMS Chief
James Woydziak
By Tracy McCue, Sumner Newscow — James Woydziak, a retired Fire Chief from Rose Hill, has been hired as the interim Wellington Fire/EMS Chief. He started work on Monday.
Wellington City Manager Jeff Porter confirmed that former fire/EMS chief Tim Robben is no longer with the city. He was placed on administrative leave in late February after being hired in mid-January.
Woydziak has been retired for four years after serving in fire/EMS for almost 50 years, albeit a stint in the military. He was Chief for Butler County Fire District #3 from April 2009 to July 2020, encompassing the Rose Hill community and a 70-square-mile district.
He has served in Wellington before. In 1971, he was an ambulance attendant under then-fire chief Neil Young. Back then, there were no certified EMTs serving a two-man shift. He eventually left after getting drafted for military service.
Woydziak returned to emergency service as a training officer for the Lawrence Fire District from January 1979 to July 1984. He was then fire chief in Moline, Ill., from June 1984 to Feb. 1990; in Emporia from Feb. 1990 to Oct. 2000; Manhattan from Oct. 2000 to July 2005; and Nampa, Ida. from July 2005 to April 2009.
“I was fire chief for all these big cities but wanted to wind down to a small fire department before retiring,” Woydziak said. “I intended to be in Rose Hill, my hometown, for three or four years. I enjoyed the experience so much I decided to stay for 12 years.”
Woydziak said Porter, an acquaintance, contacted him a couple of weeks ago to help the department out.
“And I decided to do it,” Woydziak said. “I will do everything a fire chief does and prepare the department for the next stage. And then I’ll turn it over to someone else. I’m not permanent. I want to tell you how this will go or how long I’ll be here, but I’ve never been an interim chief before.”
The Wellington Fire/EMS Department has been the subject of controversy over the past two months, including getting media attention in Wichita. He acknowledges the employment situation is dire here with two paramedics and two EMTAs on staff.
“But it just isn’t here,” he said. “It is a problem for the whole industry. The turnover rate is horrific.”
He said part of the issue is burnout, and another reason is that paramedics can make a lot more money in other healthcare fields. Many paramedics go on to become Physician Assistants.
Woydziak said that after four years of retirement, he was eager to return to working with fire/EMS, even temporarily. However, due to his pension, he can not work full-time. He also no longer has an EMT license after letting it lapse in retirement.
Porter said he has not started advertising for a full-time Fire/EMS Chief.
