Lafayette Fire Chief reflects on his career before retiring
LAFAYETTE, LA. (KLFY) -- After concluding a distinguished career in fire service spanning over four decades, Lafayette Fire Chief Robert P. Benoit will retire on Aug. 15.
As a young boy, Benoit wanted to make his dream a reality and become a hero to his community.
"Seven years old, I walked into a classroom in the first grade." Benoit recalled. " Teacher showed me a book and I looked in that book and I saw this firefighter in this book and I said, that's what I want. He had his hat on backwards, his boots on down to his ankles, and I said wow.
Benoit, who was appointed Fire Chief on Aug. 7, 1993, has been a pivotal figure in the Lafayette Fire Department, throughout his career he emphasized trust and community support. As the leader who came in 32 years ago, and increased the standards, one of the things I made sure was that I hold myself up to those standards with the men and women who work in this fire service.
"But more importantly than that, it's all about trust. How to be able to trust each other, and how to be able to always do the right thing. And we're humans, we're gonna make mistakes. But when you make a mistake, and you realize you made a mistake, fix it.," he emphasized.
Benoit attributes much of his success to the support of the community and his faith.
The citizens were very supportive of my tenure." Benoit said. "From day one, all the way up to the texts and emails and phone calls I have been receiving up to the time I'm doing this interview, have all been positive, you know. So for me, that tells me that I didn't try to do it by myself. And of course, it could not be done without god. Faith, trust and confidence in god is what guided me."
As Benoit prepares to retire, he reflects on a career that was not only a personal dream fulfilled but also a testament to the power of community and faith.
"I never woke up where I said I didn't want to come to work. It's always been positive for me," he said.
All facts in this report were gathered by journalists employed by KLFY. Artificial intelligence tools were used to reformat from a broadcast script into a news article for our website. This report was edited and fact-checked by KLFY staff before being published.