The Poplarville Board of Aldermen appointed Poplarville Fire Department Capt. Jonathan Head as the interim fire chief after an executive session Tuesday.

Head will serve as chief until the board finds the most qualified candidate for the position, Poplarville Mayor Brad Necaise said.

The position opened when former Poplarville Fire Chief Bobby Strahan retired in April after dedicating more than 30 years to fire service in Pearl River County.

During Tuesday’s board meeting, Strahan attended his last meeting as fire chief and thanked the board for their partnership over the years.

“It’s been very interesting. I’ve learned a lot and have no regrets,” Strahan said. “While we’ve had our ups and downs we did accomplish a lot of things.”

For now, the fire department is in the hands of Head who has 20 years of emergency and fire service experience. He served as a firefighter for 12 years until he was promoted to captain eight years ago, Head said.

Head knew he wanted to pursue a career in firefighting when he volunteered at the Carriere Volunteer Fire Department when he was 16.

“The duties of a fire chief will definitely be a change from the normal day-to-day work I’ve been doing but it’s something that won’t be too hard to adjust to since I’ve done a lot of work in the past with the chief,” Head said.

Head started his new job on Wednesday. He said he already applied to the full-time position and hopes to be considered by the board.

Currently, local newspapers are running an advertisement for the full-time position, Necaise said.