After a vote by the volunteer membership of the Western Salisbury Fire Department, and confirmation by the department’s board of trustees, the department’s administrative president Adam Al-Khal has announced the appointment of the organization’s fire operations officers for 2016.

Joshua G. Wells was confirmed as chief for the department for the coming year. Wells has been with WSFD since July of 1997, when he started as a junior firefighter. He then became a senior firefighter, a lieutenant in 2003, a captain in 2004, deputy chief in 2005 and he served as assistant chief from 2006 to 2012 when he was named chief. Wells graduated from Northampton Community College in 2002 with an associate’s degree in emergency services technology. Wells is a self-employed landscape contractor

Named assistant chief was William R. Sames. Sames is a paramedic with the City of Allentown and has served as a Western Salisbury firefighter since 2011. He earned his interior firefighter rating with another area volunteer fire department in 2000.

Named deputy chief was Jerry F. Royer, who has been with the volunteer department since 1978. He served in various fire officer positions during his volunteer career with the fire department and was cited in 2011 by the Salisbury board of supervisors for his long-time volunteer activities to the community.

Named fire captain for the department was Adam G. Al-Khal, who joined the volunteers as a junior firefighter in 2006. He became a fire lieutenant in 2013 and captain in 2014. Al-Khal is an engineer with Lutron Electronics, in Center Valley.

Dev A. Kannan will serve as chief engineer and training officer for the department for 2016. Kannan has been a volunteer firefighter with WSFD since 1997, when he joined as a junior firefighter. He served as a lieutenant, captain and assistant chief for the fire department before becoming chief engineer in 2009. He is a professional firefighter for the City of Reading and has served Salisbury Township as a part-time fire inspector since 2014.

Serving as assistant chief engineer for the department will be Darrell R. Singles, who has been a volunteer firefighter since 2002. Singles is a certified interior firefighter, a trained animal rescue technician and is a founding member and assistant chief of County Animal Rescue Team, a Lehigh County animal rescue unit formed in 2007 after federal legislation mandated such units nationwide following Hurricane Katrina.

Named fire lieutenant was David L. Xander. Xander joined WSFD in 2014, after retiring as an Allentown professional firefighter in 2010 after a 25-year career with the Allentown Fire Department. He is a certified paramedic and has served with Cetronia Ambulance Corps for 34 years. Xander originally served with WSFD from 1973 to 1985, when he became an Allentown firefighter. He rejoined after retiring from AFD and moving back to the WSFD fire district

Nicholas J. Fisher will serve as the fire department’s EMS officer and oversee the fire department’s state certified Quick Response Service accreditation and emergency response activities. Fisher graduated from the University of New Haven (Connecticut) in 2014 with a degree in fire science. He is a trained EMT, serving with Cetronia Ambulance Corps. He is currently pursuing an additional degree as a physician’s assistant.

“I am privileged to serve with this talented and dedicated team of volunteers,” Wells said. “With more than 400 emergency calls answered by Western Salisbury Fire Department volunteers in 2015, the kind of experience reflected in the appointment of these fire officers will help us protect lives and property in our community during the coming year.”