Bremerton firefighters say they're shocked by the news that their fire chief has been fired by the mayor. David Schmitt had only been on the job a year-and-a-half and moved to Bremerton from Southern California to take the job. But Mayor Greg Wheeler has the power to fire department heads, and that's what he did. Wheeler declined to make any comments in person to KOMO News, issuing this statement about Schmitt instead: "I would like to thank him for his contributions to the fire department and wish him the best in his future endeavors." Wheeler just took office in January and wasn't the one who hired Schmitt. That was done by Bremerton's previous mayor. And the firefighter union says Schmitt was doing great things. Union president Rob Ashmore said the chief had helped advance training and operations practices, and was taking the department in a good direction.