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MICHAEL RUSSELL<\/p>\n
WHEELING \u2014 Michael Russell likes it hot and sunny \u2014 and maybe that is why the Wheeling native is now the fire chief in balmy Cape Coral, Florida.<\/p>\n
Russell has worked for 22 years for the Cape Coral Fire Department, and was appointed chief in April 2025. <\/p>\n
The city has a population of about 230,000, and there are about 315 employees in the department including both firefighters and civilian personnel.<\/p>\n
On a chilly and gray January day in the Ohio Valley, Russell reported it was 80 degrees and sunny in Cape Coral.<\/p>\n
He explained what led him to the community.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was just young and looking for something new,\u201d Russell said. \u201cI knew the firefighter market was healthy down here, especially at that time. There was a big boom here and people were moving to Florida for job openings. I took a shot and wanted to do something different.\u201d<\/p>\n
Russell was a student at Wheeling Central Catholic High School when his father \u2014 current Ohio County Administrator Randy Russell \u2014 served as mayor of Clearview.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe got me involved in the junior firefighting program \u2014 probably to keep me on the good track in life,\u201d Russell said. \u201cI enjoyed the experience, and kind of fell in love with it.<\/p>\n
\u201cI then went on to paramedic school. That was kind of the impetus for me to want to be a paramedic.\u201d<\/p>\n
After this, he spent time working for the Brooke County EMS before heading to Florida. <\/p>\n
Along the way he obtained degrees in fire science technology and public safety administration from Edison State College and a Master\u2019s in Administration from Barry University. He is a graduate of the National Fire Academy Executive Fire Officer Program and has a chief fire officer designation from the Center for Public Safety Excellence.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe profession itself is amazing because you get the opportunity to help people when they need it most,\u201d Russell said. \u201cMost of these people you\u2019ve never met. They\u2019re just strangers who depend on you.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat sense of pride in what you do for work is valuable.\u201d<\/p>\n
He acknowledged there is also tragedy \u201cthat you have to deal with\u201d as a firefighter and paramedic.<\/p>\n
\u201cDrowning is one of the leading causes of death among children in Florida,\u201d Russell said. \u201cUnfortunately, you see that. You see all a person\u2019s worldly possessions burn up in houses, and often they\u2019ve lost family members.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s certainly the sad side of it. But there\u2019s also the positive side that you\u2019re there to make a difference. Hopefully, they remember the effort you put into making their bad day better.\u201d<\/p>\n
There\u2019s the occasional hurricane that strikes the Cape Coral area. In 2022, Hurricane Ian hit the city.<\/p>\n
\u201cHurricane Ian was very bad for our area,\u201d Russell said. \u201cThere was a lot of devastation around us and our community. I know people who still haven\u2019t got their roofs back on and are dealing with the insurance company.\u201d<\/p>\n
Not only does the weather provide some challenges in Cape Coral, but it is also completely surrounded by water, according to Russell.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe do see a lot of water emergencies and drowning,\u201d he explained. \u201cCape Coral is unique in that it has more than 400 miles of canals. That is more than the city of Venice, Italy. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt is almost like a street network of canals. This obviously provides us some challenges, whether it is a boat accident or a boat fire. We do see some cars that dive into those canals every year.\u201d<\/p>\n
As a first responder, there have been times when he has had to dive into the canals at night. Floridians always assume there are alligators in the canals, according to Russell.<\/p>\n
He admits to missing the Ohio Valley.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe people are genuine and amazing,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s a great place to live, work and play. I still have a lot of family and friends there. Oglebay was cool.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are a lot of good things about the area that I miss \u2013 pepperoni rolls, good pizza.\u201d<\/p>\n
Russell also credits his alma mater Wheeling Central for playing a role in sparking his desire for public service. <\/p>\n
He sees himself as someday being a \u201csnowbird\u201d who splits time between Florida and the Ohio Valley. He is married to wife Kelly, who is a native of Toronto, Ohio. His daughter Sydney is 15 and son Max is 14.<\/p>\n
\u201cI do miss the seasons, and I do have a desire to move back somewhere,\u201d Russell said. \u201cMy kids are younger, still, and I have to wait and see what they do with college. There\u2019s a timing piece with that.\u201d<\/p>\n
He expects Max might follow his footsteps into firefighting as he has already shown an interest in the profession. Sydney, meanwhile, is leaning toward a career in law enforcement, according to her father.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy wife is a nurse, so I think they get it from both sides when it comes to giving back to your community,\u201d Russell said.<\/p>\n
He noted the family is due for a trip to Wheeling.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy son wants to come hunting with Pap, so I think that\u2019s in the plans for next fall,\u201d Russell said. \u201cI\u2019ve got a bin in my closet full of cold weather stuff I have to pull out every time I travel.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MICHAEL RUSSELL WHEELING \u2014 Michael Russell likes it hot and sunny \u2014 and maybe that is why the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":125958,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[209,211,210],"class_list":{"0":"post-125957","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cape-coral","8":"tag-cape-coral","9":"tag-cape-coral-headlines","10":"tag-cape-coral-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125957","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=125957"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125957\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/125958"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=125957"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=125957"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=125957"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}