Clint Robinson had been a volunteer chief putting in up to 20 hours per week in Waukee, Iowa. But the Waukee City Council voted unanimously to hire the 34-year-old out of 47 candidates for the full-time job as fire chief, the Des Moines Register reported. Robinson joined the department 16 years ago while he was still in high school and had been assistant chief for six years.

The move to a full-time chief is part of the city's efforts to match its growing population. The city also plans to add four paid on-call firefighters to work a night shift. According to the paper, the current fire and emergency medical services department has one full-time employee and 24 paid-on-call volunteers and a budget of $211,000.

City Administrator Jeff Kooistra told the paper that management skills were a key factor in deciding who to hire for the post.

"That takes a special management skill, and he's lived with this," Kooistra said. "There aren't a whole lot of people out there who have that ability."