Charleston Fire Department Capt. Kenneth Tyree was selected as the new state fire marshal on Monday.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginia’s next state fire marshal plans to prioritize fire education once he starts his new position on Jan. 1.
Kenneth Tyree, of St. Albans, was chosen by the West Virginia Fire Commission at a Monday meeting. Tyree will retire from his current job as head of the Charleston Fire Department’s Prevention Bureau.
Tyree said he needs to work on filling vacancies at the fire marshal’s office and evaluating what’s working and what’s not before making more specific goals public.
“I need to evaluate what’s there so that the goals established will be achievable,” he said.
But he can predict that education will be a major focus of the office under his direction.
“Whether it’s through educating the public, children, seniors, families, educating other organizations or educating our political leaders, education is going to be the key to accomplishing good things,” Tyree said.
The outreach he has in mind involves more than reminding people about the need for sprinkler systems and smoke detectors…