Fire Chief Harold Smith will retire after more than three decades of service to the city of Laurinburg, city officials have said.

Smith, who retired from his position as public works director in 2006, plans to retire from the fire department after 37 years of service. He will step down at the end of the month.

City Manager Ed Burchins said the city has yet to decide how to pursue replacing Smith.

"My plans are to sit down with the volunteer department and our full-time firefighters and have a talk about where the department has been, where the department is now and where they'd like to see the department go in the future and get an idea of what their focus is and what their needs are in a new chief," Burchins said.

He said he wants to hire from within, if possible, and to look at if the city should make the fire chief position full time. Currently, it is a part time position.

Mayor Matthew Block asked Burchins if the department would run effectively until Smith's replacement could be found.

"Is it your feeling that the department will run smoothly with, I guess (Police) Chief (John) Evans functioning as the interim chief," he said.

As Burchins was preparing to answer Block, Councilman Curtis Leak looked at the mayor and said "No, no."

Burchins said he was unsure how he would handle the vacancy, telling council he needs to sit down with the firefighters to decide what the best option is.

He said that there is "frustration" among some firefighters about the direction of the department and he wants to address that while looking for a new chief.