BUCKHANNON – Not one, but two Baxas Captains now lead the management of the Buckhannon Fire Department.
Former Lieutenant Linn Baxa was promoted to Captain Linn Baxa in a special promotional pinning ceremony at the February 3 meeting of Buckhannon Town Council. Linn Baxa joins her brother, Captain Joey Baxa, as one of two “Captain Baxas” along with Captain Brian Elmore and Fire Chief JB Kimble.
Mayor Robbie Skinner congratulated Linn on his progress through the department’s promotion process.
“There will be two Captain Baxas now, so ‘Captain Linn’ and ‘Captain Joey’ are going to have to be what we call them,” Skinner said.
Captain Joey Baxa, who presented his brother with the captain’s pin and badge, said his brother had worked hard to earn the high rank.
“Like a backstory, the Buckhannon Fire Department has a promotion process that we must go through to achieve rank, and that involves multiple tests, courses, and thousands of pages of reading,” Joey said. “But above that you have to earn the respect of those you work with, and I think Linn has done that greatly, and it’s a proud moment for me as his brother and also his colleague. .”
Linn Baxa’s wife, Corie Bush Baxa, and the couple’s son, Jackson, attended the council meeting to help with the pinning.
Brandishing the bright, shiny captain’s badge, Skinner said he was always grateful for the selfless service of emergency first responders like the Baxa brothers.
“It will never be so clean again and it is thanks to the work these gentlemen and ladies do for our community every day,” Skinner said. “And watching them at scenes of car wrecks and saving lives at the River Trail, just for example, and walking into the building here on Main Street, it reminds us of the sacrifice they offer to this community . And they don’t do it for the money, they don’t do it because it’s glamorous work.
“They do it because they love people,” the mayor added. “They like the place, and they want our people to be safe, to be well taken care of.”
In the absence of Fire Chief JB Kimble, Capt. Joey Baxa presented the Fire Department’s report and highlights, saying the BFD is planning a firefighter training conference for January 2023 at the Event Center. by Brushy Fork.
“We are modeling this after other states. There really is nothing like it in the state of West Virginia,” he said. “We hope to have 200 to 300 people in attendance, and that’s something that will be good for everyone.”
Joey Baxa also told the council that he, Kimble, Director of Public Works Jerry Arnold, Street Superintendent Brad Hawkins and Skinner traveled to Bridgeport to check out the live-fire training facilities there. City firefighters floated the idea of developing a fire service training center at the new street department headquarters on Mud Lick Road, opposite the garbage garage.
“We went to see their fire training center to give Jerry (Arnold, Director of Public Works) an idea of what it takes to put [a fire training facility] together,” he said.
Councilman CJ Rylands thanked Baxa for the city’s fire department’s efforts to recruit volunteers and move the department forward. The next regular meeting of council is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. on February 17 in the council chambers.
