It all came down to the points.

Five Butler firefighters applied for the fire chief position, and fire Lt. George N. Ban Jr. scored highest when a committee of three evaluated the applicants on qualifications such as personality, background, training and knowledge of fire codes.

Lt. Ban, who is called "Nick," was sworn in April 24 as Butler's new fire chief by Mayor Maggie Stock to replace Larry Christy, who retired and is now Butler Township's fire marshal.

Chief Ban, 43, has been a Butler firefighter for 17 years.

Councilman Fred Reese said that all five applicants were well qualified in different areas, and it "just came down to total points." Mr. Reese, the mayor and John Evans, the city's zoning officer, conducted the interviews and scoring.

Chief Ban scored high in fire safety training, continually coordinating programs over the years to improve Butler's fire service. In 2002, he asked the city for $5,000 in 10 percent matching funds to secure about $50,000 in a federal firefighter grant program through the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

With the grant, Butler firefighters replaced outdated videotapes and bought a fire safety house, a miniature two-story house on a trailer that is used in fire safety demonstrations. Money also was used for other safety measures, including a program to place smoke detectors in every house in the city.

"Fire prevention has been a big part of the responsibilities that I took on over the years," Chief Ban said. "We have expanded the safety program countywide."

He also traveled to senior citizen centers, churches, schools and day care centers, including the YWCA and YMCA, to give seminars on fire prevention and training in using fire extinguishers.

Chief Ban has been a Butler firefighter since 1991, starting his career as a summer volunteer while attending Gannon University. He was a hose man, driver, emergency medical technician, public safety education officer and lieutenant before being promoted to chief.

Born in Pittsburgh, he moved to Butler in 1969 when his father opened a dental practice in the city. He is a 1983 Butler Area High School graduate. He and his wife, Vicky, built a home in Butler eight years ago, and they have two daughters, Lauren, 8, and Katie, 4.