The West Plains Fire Department held a pinning ceremony recently to recognize Christopher Sterner, newly appointed Lieutenant, and Matt Cochran, a newly hired fire engineer.
Prior to his promotion to Lieutenant, Christopher Sterner served as a fire engineer for three years with WPFD. He began his fire service career with Howell Rural Fire Department as a cadet and worked his way through the ranks to assistant chief. He moved out of the district and began his career with WPFD. He has been in emergency services for 26 years and has served as a reserve police officer for the West Plains Police Department for 19 years.
Sterner’s wife, Jennifer, pinned him during the ceremony. The Sterners live in West Plains with their children, Halyn, Logan, Ashlin, Kinslea, and Greyson.
Matt Cochran was hired to fill a vacated engineer position. He has been a paid-on-call fire engineer for six years with WPFD. As a new hire, Cochran will train in all aspects of the job, including driver training in all fire trucks for at least eight hours. He was pinned by Fire Chief Roy Sims. Cochran and his wife, Kathryn, live in West Plains.
