Wheeling Fire Department

Wheeling's paid fire service dates to 1869, when city council passed an ordinance establishing a paid department after decades of volunteer bucket brigades and independent hose companies dating to the 1820s. Under Chief McGranahan the department had grown to roughly 81 firefighters working out of 14 firehouses by 1922; motorized apparatus replaced horse-drawn rigs by 1912, and by the 1970s operations had consolidated into the seven firehouses the department still runs from today. In 2024-2025 the department relocated its headquarters to a new facility at 1700 Wood Street in East Wheeling.

Today Wheeling Fire Department answers roughly 7,000 calls a year from its seven stations, organized into three rotating suppression platoons (A, B and C) plus dedicated bureaus for training, fire prevention/inspection and fire investigation, each led by an assistant chief under Fire Chief Jim Blazier. The fleet includes engines, ladder trucks, a heavy rescue truck, ambulances/squads and boats for water response, reflecting a modernization push completed alongside the new headquarters. Firefighters came under civil service protection in 1947, and the department added EMT/paramedic-level EMS and heavy rescue capability during the Sligar era from the 1970s through the 1990s.

Wheeling Fire Department hires through the City of Wheeling's civil service system rather than rolling applications: a Fire Civil Service Exam (written test plus physical agility test) is administered roughly every three years, or sooner if the resulting hiring list is exhausted. Passing candidates are placed on a ranked civil service list and hired as openings arise; placement on the list does not guarantee a job offer. Pay is tiered by certification, and new hires must relocate within 20 air miles of the City-County Building within a year of appointment.