Edward Loy Senter Jr., Fire & EMS
Chief Edward “Loy” Senter Jr., a native of Virginia Beach, Virginia, entered fire and emergency medical services in 1978 at age 15 as a volunteer firefighter/rescue squad member with the Chesapeake Beach Volunteer Fire and Rescue Department. Upon graduating from Cox High School in 1981, he pursued a career as a firefighter. His first job was with the Norfolk International Airport Fire Department.
In 1982, he joined the Norfolk (Va.) Fire-Rescue Department and was assigned to Engine 2 (Church Street), one of the city’s busiest engine companies. In 1986, he was promoted to fire lieutenant and over the next seventeen years was assigned to various commands and held the ranks of fire captain, battalion chief, acting assistant chief/city-wide shift commander, and deputy fire chief and acting fire chief. In 2003, he was appointed to fire chief by City Manager Regina V.K. Williams. As Norfolk’s Fire Chief, Chief Senter provided leadership and managerial direction to 533 personnel distributed among 14 fire-rescue stations and 6 offices, and administered a $38.1 million operating budget. He served as chair of the Hampton Roads Fire Chiefs Association Executive Committee and was a member of the executive boards of the Tidewater Emergency Medical Services (TEMS) Council and the Tidewater Regional Fire Academy (TRFA). He also served on the Urban Areas Security Initiatives (UASI) Working Group of the Hampton Roads Planning District Commission (HRPDC). In addition, he served on the U.S. Navy’s Vision 2030 project team established by the Commander Naval Installations Command (CNIC) to shape the strategic direction for fire and emergency services at military bases worldwide.
On November 17, 2008 Chief Senter was appointed Fire & EMS Chief for Chesterfield County (Va.) by County Administrator James J. L. Stegmaier. He provides leadership and managerial direction to 417 career, 200 volunteer, and 49 civilian members distributed among 8 divisions, 21 fire-rescue stations and 8 volunteer rescue squad stations, and administers a $44 million operating budget. He is responsible for ensuring quality emergency and community services for a 446 square mile area with a population of 314,000, to include fire protection, emergency medical, technical rescue, water rescue, hazardous materials, emergency management, terrorism preparedness, fire prevention, fire code enforcement, arson and environmental crimes investigations, and fire and life safety education.
He is a member of the County’s Leadership Team, the Capital Improvement Project (CIP) Steering Committee, the Emergency Preparedness Steering Committee, and serves as the Co-Dean of the School of Public Safety for Chesterfield University. He is a member of the Richmond Metropolitan Fire Chiefs Association, the Virginia Fire Chiefs Association, the Virginia Fire Prevention Association, the International Association of Fire Chiefs – Metro Chiefs Section, and the National Fire Protection Association. Chief Senter’s educational background includes an A.A.S degree in fire science from Tidewater Community College, a B.S. degree in fire administration from Hampton University, and a master’s degree in public administration from Old Dominion University. He is also a graduate of the National Fire Academy’s Executive Fire Officer Program, where he received the United States Fire Administration’s Outstanding Research Award for three consecutive years. He is a Commonwealth of Virginia certified Fire Official, Fire Officer III, and Emergency Medical Technician – Enhanced.
