By Mike Warren

MARSHFIELD – Deputy Chief Pete Fletty has been named the new chief of the Marshfield Fire & Rescue Department.

With Andy Keogh absent, the city’s Fire & Police Commission on March 25 voted unanimously in favor of choosing Fletty to officially replace retired Chief Scott Owen, after Owen left the job due to medical reasons late last year, and Fletty was named acting chief.

“I didn’t start out wanting to be a fire chief,” Fletty told Hub City Times following his official introduction as chief in the department’s training room. “We get into this to help people and put out fires and ride the ambulance and that sort of thing. But, moving up through your career, you start to realize that you can start making differences other ways. As you progress through the ranks, you start seeing a little bit of what the administration does and the decisions they make, and how they impact the city and the fire department in general.

“Part of that scenario too is your body starts to break down after some time of being on the ambulance and putting out fires.”

Fletty is a 24-year veteran of the Marshfield Fire & Rescue Department. He is an Eau Claire native, and has a degree in fire science from Fox Valley Technical College, and a bachelor of science degree in Fire Service Administration, which he earned in 2017 when he was promoted to deputy chief.

He is the current first vice president of the Wisconsin State Fire Inspector’s Association.

Fletty is also a 2019 graduate of Leadership Marshfield.