RALEIGH, N.C. – Raleigh Fire Department has a new fire chief starting this month.

After a national search, Herbert Griffin was selected as the new fire chief from a pool of about 65 applicants.

Chief Griffin is from Louisiana, and comes to Raleigh after 24 years with the City of Houston Fire Department.

Griffin says the Raleigh Fire Department will be implementing five new principles.

"That's training, education, health and safety, effective communication and customer service," says Griffin. "We want to be a leader in emergency services for the community."

Griffin was the assistant fire chief of operations for the Houston Fire Department since 2017. Before that, he served as the assistant fire chief of human resources, assistant fire chief logistics management & special projects, and incident safety officer.