Buckhannon Fire Chief J.B. Kimble announced Saturday afternoon that three members have tested positive for COVID-19. The department has completed testing and contract tracing, and services will not be impacted.

Here’s the full press release:

The Buckhannon Fire Department strives to be a transparent agency and we are committed to providing the best service possible to our community. It is of the upmost importance to us and our political leaders that we do this in as safe a manner as possible for both our responders and citizens. With that being said, this announcement is being made to inform our great community that we currently have three active cases of COVID-19 within our organization.

While we are happy that it took us more than six months into a pandemic for our agency to have an active member test positive, we are moving forward with an abundance of caution. We have tested all members that have been in contact with these members and have completed contact tracing. The contact tracing included any incidents in which the staff may have been on scene.

We will continue to monitor the health of our career and volunteer staff. Further testing will be conducted as is needed. All of this is being done under the guidance of and in conjunction with the Buckhannon-Upshur Health Department and St. Joseph’s Hospital.

At this time our services to the community will not be impacted. We will continue to provide updates via the Buckhannon Fire Department Facebook Page and local media outlets. As an organization, we will not be releasing any more information at this time in an effort to protect the privacy of those involved.

We ask that as a community each of you continue to follow the guidelines that are in place by our health and government officials. Take care and be safe.

Chief J.B. Kimble
Buckhannon Fire Department