MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — The Morgantown Fire Department held a pinning ceremony in which Gary Freshour was sworn in as chief and multiple members were promoted, and Freshour used his remarks to call attention to staffing, training and retention challenges facing the department.

Freshour, who was introduced at the ceremony and formally sworn in, said the department must adapt to improve and to retain personnel. “Change brings opportunities,” he said, and added, “I will continue to speak out for anything that’s detrimental to the firemen. But in a completely honest sense, I will also speak out if there’s anything that’s detrimental to the city.”

The event recognized new recruits, firefighters promoted to Firefighter First Class, lieutenants, captains and other rank changes. Names read during the ceremony included recruits Michael Vincent, Dwayne Parnell and Hunter Bishop; Firefighter First Class promotions such as Lucas Turner and Brett Paul; and captains Jason Quinn, Charles Campbell and Brian Izzo. The ceremony also honored a promotion to chief for Gary Freshour.

The ceremony included an oath administered to the promoted members and invited family members forward to pin their relatives. Retired City of Morgantown Fire Lieutenant Bob Covert led the invocation and later gave the benediction.

Freshour described a recent period of administrative turnover and said the department at one point had only “one person in that office that had any idea what was going on,” after multiple administrative departures. He credited Captain Chuck Campbell and others for stepping into roles while the department adjusted.

Freshour described the outward recruitment loss of at least one locally trained firefighter who accepted a position with Fairfax County, Virginia, saying that the recruit—identified by Freshour as a former Morgantown High School graduate—left for a larger department and later graduated near the top of his Fairfax recruit class. Freshour said that loss illustrated the department’s retention challenge and argued the city should “start doing things to recognize the people that we have to try to keep them here.”

Training and competencies were a recurring theme. Freshour praised Derek Porter, the department’s Firefighter of the Year, for roughly 20 years of service and for maintaining EMS training and mentorship without additional pay. Porter, accepting the recognition, said he was raised with a strong work ethic and called the job an honor. “I’m very proud of the fact that I was raised in a home that gave me a work ethic,” Porter said.

Freshour also highlighted work by Jason Quinn, the city fire marshal, noting Quinn helped secure and apply for a grant to bring the first arson dog to West Virginia. Freshour described the arson dog as a grant-funded initiative and said the department was “working through that right now,” indicating the effort was pending implementation rather than complete.

Freshour said he had asked each crew to nominate candidates for firefighter and officer of the year and that crews provided multiple names; he described the selection process and named Porter as the first firefighter of the year. He also introduced Whitney Wade as the department’s new executive secretary and thanked Betsy, identified in the ceremony as the city’s HR director, for assistance with a commemorative pen.

Throughout his remarks Freshour acknowledged internal tensions and differing viewpoints within the department and between the department and city administration. “I believe that the firemen have honest complaints and issues and I hope we get through those,” he said, adding that he hoped the department and city could be “closer” and work together more effectively.

The ceremony combined formal recognition (swearing-in and pins) with public remarks by the new chief and honorees about retention, recognition, training and administrative continuity. No formal policy vote or ordinance was acted on during the event.

Family members, department colleagues and several city officials attended and applauded the promoted members as names were called. Retired Lieutenant Bob Covert delivered the invocation and benediction for the ceremony.