CHARLESTON, W.Va. — After 26 years of serving with the Charleston Fire Department, Chief Shawn Wanner says he’s retiring Friday.
“It was a tough decision,” Wanner told MetroNews holding back tears this week.
Wanner was promoted to chief in Nov. 2020 during what was a very busy season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. His staff was adapting to the changes.
“The past 2-3 years has been kind of rough. With COVID, nobody knew what to do. We just tried to do the best we could. We had employees off with COVID, getting many exposures, having to send people home. It was a trying time, but we made it through,” he said.
Wanner started working with the department in 1996, the same year CFD merged with EMS and welcomed new red ambulances. Technology has evolved since then, too.
“When I started this, we did paper reporting,” he said. “Just so many new pieces of equipment that help us do our job. It’s remarkable, really.”
The call volume has also spiked over the last three decades.
“I think we run about 14,000 EMS calls a year so it went up drastically over the years since I’ve been on the job,” Wanner said.
Wanner said he plans to enjoy his free time after he retires Friday.
The city has not yet announced Wanner’s replacement.