City of Urbana Mayor DeShawn Williams appointed Tal Prendergast, a 17-year veteran of the Urbana Fire Department, to the position of interim fire chief Monday night. Prendergast will serve in the position until or before June 5.
The appointment was approved by the Urbana City Council at its special meeting Monday
Prendergast has held the position of deputy fire chief since October 2024. At UFD, he serves on the Mutual Aid Box Alarm System 28 Technical Rescue Team. He is also a program director and firefighting program administrative coordinator at the Illinois Fire Service Institute.
He has 29 years of experience in the fire service, including his 17 years with UFD, five years with the Danville Fire Department and 23 years at IFSI.
The new interim chief earned his bachelor’s degree in technical systems management from the University. He is from Urbana and graduated from Urbana High School.
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The former Urbana Fire Chief, Demond Dade, announced his resignation in October. During the leadership transition, Deputy Chiefs Steven Doggett and Prendergast were tapped to provide “steady operational leadership” to the department, per WCIA.
