New Albany names Whiteside fire chief

New Albany aldermen voted Tuesday to name Mark Whiteside chief of the New Albany Fire Department.

Whiteside, who was deputy chief, replaces long-time chief Steve Coker, who retired earlier this year for health reasons.

Whiteside has been serving as acting chief in the interim.

“It think we have waited long enough on this,” Ward Three Alderman Kevin Dale White said. “Mark took over for Steve and did a fine job. I think he ought to be chief.”

Other aldermen agreed and added that Whiteside has received a lot of support from those in the department as well as volunteers.

Whiteside, 56, said, “This is my childhood dream.”

An Okolona native, he has a lot of family ties in Union County. “My roots run deep here,” he said. “I have a lot of family buried here.”

His family moved to Indiana when he was young and he first became a junior fireman at age 15 but his interest came long before that. “I was six years old when I first went to a fire station, saw them sliding down the pole. I will never forget it,” he said.

His family returned to this area on retirement and Whiteside rejoined firefighting in 1991, recruited for the North Haven department by Mark Sides, who coincidentally is new deputy chief.

Whiteside began a volunteer at New Albany in 1993 and after working at Cooper Tire 21 years, became full time in 2011. “I became full time when Steve got chief,” he said. He took on the role of deputy chief in 2016.

He currently serves as Vice-President at Large for the Mississippi Firefighters Association and is slated to run for president in 2022. It would have come sooner except for the upset COVID-19 has caused to many plans.

Whiteside is also an adjunct instructor for the State Fire Academy, which means he is qualified to teach every class they offer. He teaches occasionally in the northeast part of the state.

“We believe not only in statewide but nationwide networking,” he said. Information shared among departments is invaluable and Whiteside noted that he had letters of recommendation from various departments all over.

He remains close to the retired chief and they talk every day. “He’s still involved. We share the same views and outlook,” Whiteside said.

They began working together, fighting fires together since 1993, and that included creating five- and 10-year plans for the department, which are still ongoing, although the coronavirus pandemic has necessitated some changes.

Getting a rescue truck, achieving a Class Four fire rating and expanding Station Two are just some of the goals and achievements.

Planning for the future also includes personnel.

He said four full-time firefighters will be ready for retirement in the next two years, and younger and younger replacements are being hired who need to be trained. He said he literally remembers when some of the newer firefighters were in diapers.

The New Albany department includes 18 full-time firefighters, two administrative personnel (chief and deputy chief), six part-time firefighters and 10 volunteers. Whiteside said he will be looking at promotions and new duties soon.

“We also have a good relationship with the county departments,” he said. While there is a formal mutual aid agreement, it goes beyond that. Whiteside said to his staff, concerning incidents out in the county, “If you think you can make a difference, you go. Don’t wait to call me.”

“The community and the guys come first,” he said. “I can only be as good as the folks around me.”

“We have a good city,” he said. “Our leaders have given us what we need to be successful.”

Whiteside has four sons. One lives out of state but the other three are in public service here. Chris is the canine officer for the Union County Sheriff’s Department as well as a volunteer firefighter, Casey is an E-911 dispatcher and Jack is a firefighter also.

“I am living the dream,” he said. “I will be doing this until I am on a walker or if I ever do any harm to the department.”

Indeed, Whiteside is usually first to a call, day or night. “If they don’t beat me there I will have my gear on and be going in,” he said. He is a believer in not asking people to do anything he would not do.

New Deputy Chief Mark Sides is from Ashland but moved to New Albany when he married his wife, Pam, who is from here.

“Mark brings a lot to the table,” Whiteside said. “He has his own leadership style and brings a lot to the table.”

After Sides moved here in 1981 he became a volunteer for the North Haven department. “I was there 10 years and then got the opportunity to come to New Albany,” he said. “I was a volunteer two years and then full time”

In terms of experience, as of Dec. 5, he will have 24 years in with New Albany and 36 years total as a firefighter. He has been a captain here 14 years.

Sides also sees the value of networking and serves as vice-chairman of the Minimum Standards Board, which sets certification requires for all firefighters in the state. He also is a member of the Mississippi Firefighters Association and the Mississippi Instructors’ Association.

Like Whiteside, Sides has extreme dedication to his job.

“This is a life-long dream for me as well,” he said. “I grew up watching other people do it and now I get to live that dream. I am very passionate about it.”

Sides believes in leading by example and maintaining good relationships. “When you come into this department you come into a family,” he said. “Family comes first.”

“I consider it a privilege to serve this city and the citizens of this city,” Sides said. “There are some big shoes to fill. I hope I can live up to and fill those shoes.”

“We have all worked very hard to get the classes, the knowledge, the training we need to do the job effectively,” he said.

Whiteside and Sides officially assume their new roles Monday.