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FRENCHTOWN- The new Frenchtown Rural Fire Chief says he's aware of the past issues in his department, but he wants to move forward. Joseph Calnan started his new job on Monday.

He grew up south of Helena near the town of Clancy and was living in Juno, Alaska before taking the position at Frenchtown Fire. He also recently retired from the Coast Guard after over 20 years of service.

Calnan said last winter he decided he wanted to move back to Montana to be close to his family. He's now taking the time to meet with his staff, community members and the agencies he will be working with to see what he needs to do next.

"Kind of get a feel for how operations are right now. And I'll be doing that for several weeks probably-just getting a good feel of what's going on and then start laying out a plan forward," Calnan told us.

He also says that his department is fully staffed and has some veteran firefighters.