The City of Redmond has narrowed its field of 80 fire chief applicants down to four and the new chief could start sometime in May, according to Lori Brown, the city’s human resources program manager.

The city narrowed the field down to 12 applicants, who had telephone interviews with city officials last month. From there, the field was narrowed down to four applicants, who will be interviewed in Redmond on Feb. 24, Brown said.

From there, the city will conduct secondary interviews of its top choices, pick a finalist, do a background check and then give a job offer, which should happen sometime at the end of March or early April, according to Brown.

Depending on the logistics of the move, the new chief could start sometime in May, Brown pointed out.

Police Chief Ron Gibson, who was hired last June, and Jane Christenson, the deputy city administrator, will share responsibilities as the interim fire chief until the new fire chief is hired, according to Brown.

The new chief will replace Tim Fuller, who retired on Monday after serving as Redmond’s fire chief since 2005.