Fairbanks Fire Chief Warren Cummings officially ended his 43-year career with a well-attended ceremony at the department’s Cushman Street headquarters Friday afternoon.
Cummings began his firefighting career in 1972 and worked his way up through the ranks to become the fire chief in 2000. Along the way he saw major changes in the safety culture and worked tirelessly to improve the equipment and working conditions at the department. Cummings also taught several generations of new firefighters, served on the Alaska Fire Standards Council for four years and was vice president of the Western Fire Chiefs Association for the past eight years.
Cummings was joined by his wife, six children, three grandchildren and an enthusiastic crowd of almost 100 well-wishers in the apparatus bay as officials and colleagues thanked him for his commitment to the department. Mayor John Eberhart asked the crowd to join him in showing his appreciation to all Cummings has done for the department, and representatives for Gov. Bill Walker and Sen. Lisa Murkowski read statements commemorating the occasion.