Retiring Brownwood Fire Chief Del Albright was honored with a farewell reception at 3 p.m. on Thursday at the Central Fire Station. There were tears and laughter shared throughout as colleagues and friends offered well wishes. Albright, who has served as fire chief in Brownwood for 10 years, will begin working as the fire chief in Murphy beginning in December.

The reception was filled with fellow firefighters, friends and family, as well as city officials. Several attendees brought gifts for the retiring chief, including Greg Dodge with the Texas Division of Emergency Management. “We do very well around here under his leadership and he’s sure to be missed,” he said. Dodge then pulled a Subway restaurant gift card from his pocket and said, “We took up a collection since you’re going to the metroplex and there’s all those fancy places to eat. We got you a gift card to one of the more high dollar places.”

Brownwood City Manager, Emily Crawford spoke to Albright during the reception. “It was my second week on the job when we had the flood of 2015 and I got to know Chief Albright pretty well,” Crawford said. “That was a good experience and I’m grateful for everything you taught me. You took me under your wing and I appreciated that.”

Towards the end of the reception, Chief Albright had a gift of his own to give, a special shirt for the station’s honorary firefighter, Walter Banks. “My biggest supporter, besides my wife,” said Albright. “He’s the biggest supporter of the Brownwood Fire Department, Walter.” Chief Albright was overcome with emotion as he presented the shirt to Banks, saying, “I planned to give this to you at the Christmas party.”

Chief Albright thanked everyone who had worked with him in the past ten years, crediting their combined efforts for the department’s successes.

Albright’s last day as Brownwood’s fire chief will be December 2nd.