Morgantown swears in new fire chief, promotes firefighters as department leaders cite retention and training concerns

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…