Charlotte City Manager Marcus Jones chose someone many feel can unite the fire department which has been engulfed in controversy for years.
Deputy Chief Pete Key Key joined the Charlotte Fire Department as a firefighter in 1977 and now 40 years later, he’s in charge of its more than 1,200 employees and protecting more than 840,000 citizens. The selection signals a restart for the fire department, which has been dealing with a series of controversies.
Sources said Fire Chief Jon Hannan announced his retirement because his job was in jeopardy due to extremely low morale and the handling of the Crystal Eschert trial.
Eschert was recently awarded $1.5 million from a jury that found the city fired her in retaliation for being a whistleblower about a Charlotte fire building.