Tucumcari hires Shane Warner as new city fire chief

link Shane Warner

QCS Staff

Shane Warner hired on as Tucumcari’s fire chief on Jan. 27, and two days later, he was asking the Tucumcari City Commissionfor permission to apply for about $400,000 in state Emergency Medical Services Act funds.

The commission readily approved the request. Warner said the money will cover costs associated with ambulances and equipment for the city’s emergency medical services, and the purchase of a rescue unit for the Tucumcari Fire Department.

He hit the ground running after City Manager Jared Langenegger told him the deadline was nearing to make the request, and Warner took the assignment in stride.

He said he had just begun a transition to administrative duties as a lieutenant in Clovis after serving as a hands-on supervisor for many years.

“You can only pull hoses for so long,” he said. He applied for the chief position in Tucumcari as part of that transition, he said.

In Clovis, he served 14 years as a professional firefighter after putting in three years as a volunteer.

As a professional, he has has acheived highest level certification in firefighting skills from the International Fire Service Accreditation Congress and is a licensed paramedic.

The city of Tucumcari will pay Warner about $44,000 a year, he said.

Warner is a father of five children and is currently engaged to be married.

As a firefighter, he said, “you often see people at the worst times of their lives.”

That’s because firefighters are serving at those times, and being able to serve in times of greatest need, he said, is what makes him glad to be a firefighter.