Wheeling Assistant Fire Chief Paul Harto retires after 38 years of service | News, Sports, Jobs

Photo by: Eric Ayres

Wheeling city officials present a plaque to Assistant Fire Chief Paul Harto in recognition of his many years of service to the city. Harto retired last weekend, ending a 38-year career.

City officials paid tribute to longtime Wheeling Assistant Fire Chief Paul Harto, who officially retired last weekend after serving the city’s residents for nearly four decades.

“Deputy Fire Chief Paul Harto has 38 years of service with the Wheeling Fire Department,” said Wheeling City Manager Robert Herron. “Paul has been an assistant fire chief for many years. I have seen him in very stressful situations, supervising crews at large fires, accident scenes, etc. He does a wonderful job and has the full trust of the fire chiefs. He has worked under three or four fire chiefs and you can see the trust the firefighters he leads have in his leadership abilities.”

According to fire officials, Harto joined the City of Wheeling’s emergency dispatch center on August 24, 1986, and transferred to the Wheeling Fire Department three years later, in March 1989. He was promoted to assistant chief in 2008 and served in the training division for a year before transferring to the firefighting division in 2009, where he has since commanded the department’s C-platoon.

Herron noted that Harto played a key role on the city’s planning committee that helped plan the new Wheeling Fire Department headquarters, which is being built in East Wheeling and is scheduled for completion in the coming months.

“He has played an important role and I think the community will be very proud of this facility,” Herron said. “We certainly thank Paul for his contributions in making this one of the best fire stations in the state of West Virginia.”

Last week, members of the Wheeling City Council recognized Harto for his service to the city and presented him with a plaque for his dedication to the city and its residents – an award that was met with thunderous applause. Many fellow firefighters attended the meeting to support Harto, who invited them all to pose for a photo with city leaders and took the time to give each of them a big hug.

The mustachioed Harto – who said he began growing his signature horseshoe-shaped beard immediately after graduating from Wheeling Central – has been a well-known figure in the community for decades, and city leaders acknowledged that his presence will be missed by both city employees and citizens.

Harto, known by his radio call sign “C-4,” ended his successful career at the end of his shift last Saturday.

“My guys worked really hard for me,” Harto said this week. “I treated them well and they treated me well. I’ve had a lot of good times throughout my career, but also some bad times. But all I ever wanted to do was be a firefighter, so I was able to live my dream and it was fantastic.”

West Virginia law requires firefighters in paid departments in the state to retire at age 65. Herron noted that this is the second time a deputy chief has been forced to resign because of the state law.

“I know he has no interest in retiring and we will miss him,” Herron said.

“If I worked in a volunteer department, I could do that until I die,” Harto joked, referring to the state’s retirement age. “But I’m looking forward to taking a little time off. I have a long ‘honey, do’ list.”