After 43 years in the fire service, including 23 with the Franklin Fire Department, Engineer Allen Fagan will retire next week. The community is invited to join Fagan’s family, friends, and colleagues in celebrating his career on Thursday, March 28th at 3 PM at Franklin Fire Station 7, 1972 John Fitzgerald Dr.
An East Tennessee native, Fagan began his firefighting career while serving in the U.S. Navy from 1979-1989. All sailors receive training on how to fight fires on ships, but Fagan received additional training and served as a volunteer firefighter for the Mason County Fire Department in Belfair, WA, while he was stationed there. Upon leaving the military and returning to his hometown of Piney Flats, TN, Fagan started volunteering with its fire department and took a job in the Johnson City Sanitation Department. He enjoyed the volunteer work and when he learned that Columbia, TN was hiring paid firefighters he applied and was hired in 1997.
Fagan worked for the Columbia Fire Department for four years before being hired by Franklin in 2001. He was promoted to the rank of engineer in 2008. During the first half of his career, Fagan worked at FFD Stations 1, 3, and 4. He’s been assigned to Station 7 since it opened in 2014, first as a temporary station at the Williamson County Ag Expo Center, then as a permanent station in 2021, where he is responsible for driving Engine 7.
Fire Chief Glenn Johnson said, “I’m glad I had the opportunity to work with Engineer Fagan over the years and appreciate his dedication and commitment to the department, the city, and the community. We thank him for his service and congratulate and wish him the very best in his well-earned retirement.”
Fagan has two sons and lives in Columbia. Upon retirement, he plans to travel and ride motorcycles “a lot.”
