VWFD’s announces 2 officer promotions

VW independent/submitted information

Van Wert Fire Chief Jon Jones recently announced two promotions within his department.

Lt. Brian Ankney was promoted to the rank of captain, while Austin Miller will replace Ankney as a fire lieutenant.

Ankney firefighting career began in 1989 with the Paulding Volunteer Fire Department and he attained his certification as a volunteer firefighter in June 1990. In March 1998, he earned his Firefighter 1 certification and, three months later, in June 1998, he became a fire instructor.

Ankney earned EMT-Basic status in August 1999 and, in February 2001, was hired by the Van Wert Fire Department. In August 2001, he completed training for his paramedic certification, and, in October of that year, earned the Firefighter 2 designation. Ankney obtained his fire safety inspector certification in November 2002.

The new fire captain earned an associate’s degree in fire science from the University of Cincinnati in 2004 and his Fire Officer 1 certificate in December of that year. He was promoted to lieutenant in February 2017 and was hired as the fire training coordinator for Vantage Career Center in December of that year.

Ankney is also certified in confined space rescue and as a haz-mat technician.

Over the years, he has taught classes through Vantage, Four County Career Center, Bowling Green State Fire School, and at various fire departments in Ohio. He has also taken numerous classes to learn new skills and to keep his certifications current.

Miller is a 2008 graduate of Lincolnview High School and attended the Ohio Fire Academy and Rhodes State College, where he obtained his paramedic certification.

He joined the VWFD in 2011 as a reserve firefighter and was hired full-time in May 2012.

Miller is a certified rescue technician, with water rescue, ropes, trench, confined space, automobile extraction, hazardous materials, and structural collapse specialties.

The new fire lieutenant has trained at Bowling Green State University and the Ohio Fire Academy in the following disciplines: fire safety inspector, live fire instructor, arson investigation, incident safety officer, Blue Card command, the Initial Company Operations series, and Fire Officer 1 and 2.

He is currently studying with Columbia Southern University and is planning to graduate in the spring with a degree in fire science.

He currently resides in Van Wert County with his wife, Ericca.