A round of applause echoed through the Selma City Council Chamber Tuesday night as Mayor George Evans appointed Toney Stephens as the new Selma Fire Chief.

Stephens, who started working as a firefighter in Montgomery at the age of 18, has 25 years of experience with the Montgomery, Victoryland and Selma Fire Departments.

“This moment right here is actually the destination that I have desired for the past 25 years to reach,” Stephens said after retiring fire chief Mike Stokes pinned his badge on him.

“Excitement really doesn’t even explain really the way that [I] feel because actions like having the desire for something for 25 years and working hard at it day in and day out. You run through a lot of ups and downs, but being able to overcome all of those obstacles and make it to the top is really rewarding.”

Stephens worked with the Montgomery Fire Department from 1990 to 2010 when he retired as a captain. He came to work in Selma in 2011.

“I first originally came and just wanted to be a firefighter and sit back and just kind of do what firemen do … but after being here for a short period of time I realized I had a few things I could contribute to the fire service, and that is what made me decide to get back within the promotional rank,” Stephens said.

Stephens said one of his main focuses as fire chief will be educating people of all ages to help prevent fires from happening.

“As a fire chief we do more than just go out and extinguish fires,” Stephens said. “One of the biggest things we do is we try to prevent fires, and the way that we prevent them is by trying to educate the public of what actually occurs that causes fires.”

Retiring chief Mike Stokes gave his stamp of approval on Stephens’s appointment.

“I’m ending something that I’ve done for a quarter of a century, but I can’t be any happier to be walking out leaving a department that I love and a city that I love in probably what I feel is the best hands,” Stokes said. ”All the candidates that applied for fire chief were worthy, but in my own honest opinion, I think Chief Stephens was the top. I’m just absolutely ecstatic to be able to leave it with him, and I wish him the best of luck. I know he is going to do a great job.”

Stokes said Stephens’ natural leadership was one of the qualities that stood out to him during the selection process.

“Believe it or not, people are just natural born leaders. You’ve got leaders, and you’ve got followers, and you’ve got to have both to be successful,” Stokes said.

“Toney has the leadership abilities and the leadership qualities that the job is going to demand. He’s got other leaders in the department to work with him, and he’ll have good followers.”

Eight Selma firefighters applied for the job, and seven were interviewed. Mayor George Evans said he and the committee felt like Stephens was the best fit for the job.

“I think all of the firemen were good. Every one of them could very well possibly do the job,” Evans said. “It is just that this young man stood above in terms of some things he talked about in his interview that he would want to do in change … and working together with the community and all the firemen.”

Evans said Stephens’s vision for the department stuck out to him and the committee as well.

“He expressed his vision for the city of Selma, the fire department and the men, in putting them first rather than himself to move forward,” Evans said. “I feel comfortable about [this decision]. I think the committee as a whole feels comfortable about it. Ultimately I had to make the final decision, but I listened to them and their ideas and concerns.”

Stephens service as Selma fire chief will begin Sept. 1, but Evans said he will have interim on his title until he relocates to Selma, which is required for department heads by an ordinance.