Capt. Stony Lohr was named acting fire chief for Peachtree City as of Jan. 1, as Chief Gerald Reed has taken an extended medical leave.

Lohr, one of three career staff captains in the department, has most recently served as accreditation manager and was the architect of Peachtree City's Y2K contingency plan, according to city public information specialist Betsy Tyler.

He now oversees a department that consists of 36 full-time personnel and 36 volunteers. Lohr began his own tenure with Peachtree City as a volunteer in March 1992, joining the career staff in Oct. 1993 as a firefighter/paramedic. He was promoted to captain in April 1998.

He has been in fire service since 1974, working in the state of Washington, Alaska and Alabama.

His time as acting chief is expected to last at least several weeks, and maintains the chain of command, Tyler said. Reed is undergoing treatment for cancer.

“There is no end date right now,” said Lohr. “It depends on Chief Reed's condition.”

Lohr is only the third person to head the Peachtree City Fire Department. The first chief was the late Myron Leach, who founded the department and has a fire station in the city named in his honor. Reed became chief in the mid-1980s.

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