AUSTIN — Austin Fire Chief Mickey Healey is trading his command vehicle for a seat in a fire engine.

After almost three years in Austin, Healey submitted his letter of resignation to the city Friday to take a job with the South Montgomery County Emergency Services District 8 in Spring, Texas, a northern suburb of Houston.

Healey said his main inspiration for the move was to return to working shifts in a fire department, which puts him back on the street fighting fires and responding to calls, rather than coordinating them.

“My heart still is back on that fire engine,” Healey said.

Healey took over as fire chief in Austin in July of 2010 after Dan Wilson retired.

“I have enjoyed working with all the members of the Austin Fire Department,” Healey wrote in his letter of resignation.

Healey will work in Austin until June 5, and then he’ll start as a line officer in South Montgomery County on June 10.

“The history of my fire career has been with larger departments with wider range of response needs,” Healey said in the letter.

South Montgomery is a metropolitan fire department near Houston.