AMHERST — After nearly a quarter-century as an assistant fire chief for operations and having twice led the department on a temporary basis, Lindsay Stromgren will become Amherst’s next fire chief, pending Town Council review on Monday.

Town Manager Paul Bockelman announced the appointment Tuesday afternoon.

“I am excited to begin this next chapter in my decades-long career here at the Amherst Fire Department,” Stromgren said in a statement. “I look forward to leading our exceptional team as we continue to serve the residents of Amherst.”

Stromgren has been acting fire chief since June, overseeing a department that, when fully staffed, has 50 full-time permanent positions, with those people cross-trained as both firefighters and either EMT-intermediates or paramedics. The department also has both a call force and a student force.

Stromgren, 60, will succeed Walter “Tim” Nelson, who retired in June after more than 14 years as fire chief.

Bockelman said Stromgren is the leader who will best guide the Fire Department in the coming years.

“Lindsay brings extensive professional firefighting experience in both operations and administration, advanced educational training in fire science and a strong commitment to maintaining high quality services and aligning the department with the needs, goals and desires of the town of Amherst,” Bockelman said.

Stromgren was previously acting fire chief in 2009 after the retirement of Keith Hoyle as fire chief, but at the time took himself out of the running for the top post, wanting to wait until his children, then 8 and 11, were in or had completed high school.

A Pelham resident, Stromgren grew up in Amherst and graduated from Amherst Regional High School. He joined the student force for five years beginning in 1982, his first year at the University of Massachusetts, and was an on-call firefighter for five years before achieving full-time status in 1991. He studied and earned a bachelor’s degree in fire science and administration at UMass, as well as another bachelor’s degree in geography.

The department runs ambulances and fire engines out of both the North Fire Station on East Pleasant Street and the Central Fire Station on North Pleasant Street downtown, providing fire protection and medical service for the University of Massachusetts, Amherst College and Hampshire College campuses, along with medical service for the towns of Shutesbury, Leverett and Pelham.

Stromgren co-chairs the Campus Community Coalition Against High Risk Drinking, is a member of the Amherst Area Chamber of Commerce, and is a voting member of the Western Massachusetts Regional Interoperability Council. He also serves as a member of the Special Operations Team for the Massachusetts Department of Fire Services.

Stromgren is already a credentialed fire chief, a graduate of the Executive Fire Officer program at the National Fire Academy, a graduate of the Chief Fire Officer program at the Massachusetts Fire Academy, and recently completed the staff and command leadership program at the Maryland Fire & Rescue Institute. He also serves as adjunct faculty in the fire science associate’s degree program at Greenfield Community College.

He was one of three finalists interviewed for the position by Bockelman, Assistant Town Manager David Ziomek and Human Resources Director Melissa Loiodice-Walker

The committee reviewed 18 applicants, a sufficient pool but one that town officials say would have been larger if the fire union hadn’t issued a request that local firefighters not apply.