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.