Sterling council approves Cody Howell as new fire chief

Sterling residents got a smooth handoff at the top of the fire department just as summer fire danger and EMS demand begin to climb. Cody Howell was confirmed as the city’s new fire chief, giving the department a named leader after Lavon Ritter’s last day on the job on May 22 and avoiding any break in command for crews, mutual-aid partners and the Logan County communities that rely on Sterling for emergency response.

The Sterling City Council gave its formal approval after a longer May 12 session had already set the transition in motion, and the department’s own information now lists Howell as chief at the station at 410 North 5th Street. That matters in practical terms: the department says it operates with 22 career firefighters, nine part-time EMS staff and eight volunteer firefighters, serving a residential population of more than 23,000 people. It provides fire services across more than 600 square miles and EMS coverage across about 1,850 square miles in Logan County, with an ISO class 3 rating.

Ritter’s retirement closed a 26-year run with the Sterling Fire Department, including 10 years as chief. In his retirement announcement, he pointed to the Foote Building fire downtown, the Logan Fire, the County Road 29 haystack fire, the 2013 and 2015 floods, the Highway 61 Fire and the 113 Fire as defining incidents in a career that stretched across major storms, structure fires and rural wildfire responses. He also said he helped update most of the department’s fleet, increase staffing and add the first battalion chief in department history.

Howell said the transition felt “surreal” because he and Ritter had worked together for about 25 years and rose through the department together. He said his firefighting career began in the U.S. Marine Corps as an aircraft rescue firefighter, a background that gives Sterling a chief with both local continuity and military experience at the helm.

The timing of the change also underscored the pressure on Sterling and the surrounding district. In February 2026, a grass fire near Highway 113 grew to about 4,000 acres and forced evacuations near Padroni, a reminder that Logan County fire leadership is tied to more than city limits. The Sterling Rural Fire Protection District, organized on April 26, 1947, now covers just over 800 square miles in southwest Logan County through contracts with the Sterling Fire Department and the Merino Volunteer Fire Department.