Atlanta names interim fire chief to permanent position

ATLANTA (AP) Atlanta officials say a man who has been serving as the city's interim fire chief has been named chief.

Mayor Kasim Reed on Thursday announced the appointment of Joel Baker as chief of the Atlanta Fire Rescue Department.

Atlanta's former fire chief, Kelvin Cochran, was fired in January after self-publishing a book that described homosexuality as a perversion.

Cochran said has said he was fired because he expressed his religious beliefs in the book, which he said he did not write in his capacity as fire chief. Reed has said Cochran was fired because he gave the book to subordinates at work who hadn't asked for it.