Cleveland fire chief recounts department history, volunteer-to-paid transition

Sean Anderson, the fire chief and merchant management coordinator for the City of Cleveland, described the origins of the Cleveland Fire Department and his own career with the city.

"My name is Sean Anderson. I'm the fire chief and, merchant management coordinator for the city of Cleveland. I've been with Cleveland for right around 30 years now as far as an employee, but I've lived here most of my life," Anderson said, adding that he and his family moved to Cleveland in the early 1980s.

Anderson told listeners the town relied on community members for firefighting before the department became official in 1931. "The fire department actually started in 1931," he said.

He located the department's first station behind what is now a Walgreens and described a Fireman's Hall on the site off Hanson Street where community dances and dinners were held. "Actually, where the back driveway coming out of the pharmacy of Walgreens was where the Fireman's Hall used to be," Anderson said, noting the city now has a pavilion at that location.

Anderson placed the department's founding before the city's incorporation. "The department's actually a few years older than the city of Cleveland because the department was actually started in 1931 where the city was actually chartered and became a city in 1935," he said.

On his own career, Anderson said he began working for Cleveland EMS in 1995 and, after helping volunteers, attended Fire Academy and became certified. "So after a year of just kinda helping out, I joined and became part," he said. He said he transitioned from volunteer to paid personnel as the department expanded its paid staff.

Anderson emphasized Cleveland's small-community character amid growth. "While the face of Cleveland is definitely changing, because we do have new development and things that that haven't happened in the past, Cleveland has very much been able to retain its its its foundation," he said. When asked why he remained in the city despite having certifications that could take him elsewhere, he said simply, "this is home."