The city's assistant fire chief will act as fire chief after Dan White leaves the job April 13.

Mark Hasheider will serve as acting fire chief until the city hires a permanent replacement for White, according to City Manager Mike Miller.

Meanwhile, the city is preparing to advertise regionally for fire chief applicants and will consider a national search if it can meet certain advertising requirements.

"Whether we advertise nationally will depend on deadlines," Miller said. "If it's too long, we'll stick with regionally."

White, who has been fire chief in Cape Girardeau since 1997, announced his resignation Feb. 27. He will become fire chief at Bentonville, Ark., on April 16. Before coming to Cape Girardeau, White was fire chief in Springdale, Ark.

Hasheider became assistant fire chief last fall. He also served as the city's emergency operations coordinator.

Miller said he has put together a staff team to help with the search for a permanent chief, and he expects the search to take between three and four months.

"During that time, we'll also seek some input from anybody who wants to give it, very frankly," he said. "We'll move as fast as possible."