HAMPTON -- The process has begun to find a replacement for Fire Chief Hank Lipe.

Town Manager Fred Welch on Monday said the job was posted within the department first. If anyone within the department is interested in being the fire chief, the person will be interviewed. Welch will determine if there is an interest in having the position filled from within the department.

If no one from within the department is chosen, Welch said, the position will be offered outside of the department.

Deputy Fire Chief Steve Benotti couldn't comment on who might be applying for the position of chief, he said, because he's not sure who would even be eligible for the job.

Welch said the most important criteria for a fire chief applicant to have is strong management ability and prior command experience.

Benotti would like to see the job filled from within the department, but the decision is up to Welch.

"I think the people who know what the fire department needs... are already here on the inside," Benotti said. "It depends on what the town manager wants."

Lipe announced on July 31 that he is resigning and taking a job as a fire chief in Vashon, Wash. That fire department is a volunteer organization. He has not yet specified the date he will be leaving Hampton.

Lipe noted that his leaving has nothing to do with the controversy over the proposals for new fire stations in town and that his family helped make the decision to move to the West Coast.