Surfside Beach town officials name new fire chief

Surfside Beach’s next fire chief will be sworn in during the May 12 council meeting, officials said Tuesday.

Kevin Otte was “the only candidate to meet all requirements included in the job description,” Micki Fellner, town administrator wrote in a notice Tuesday.

Otte already works for the town in the planning, building and zoning department. He has been a volunteer firefighter for the town for three years and the last two years Otte has worked as the certified fire marshal, Fellner said.

Otte volunteered for five years with the Bethlehem, W.Va., Fire Department, spent three years as a paramedic with TriState Ambulance and 30 years with the Wheeling, W.Va., Fire Department, Fellner said. During his time in Wheeling, Otte was the chief inspector of the bureau of fire prevention and assistant chief of fire suppression.

Also during that time in West Virginia, Otte was an instructor for the Regional Education Service Agency and taught fire service classes, Fellner said. Otte has an associate degree in firefighting science from West Virginia Northern Community College in Wheeling and a Bachelor of Arts Regents degree from West Liberty University in West Liberty, W.Va.

This story was originally published May 5, 2015 at 9:03 AM with the headline "Surfside Beach town officials name new fire chief."