Virginia Fire Chief Retires
June 30, 2010 — After over two decades (22 years) of dedicated service with the Virginia Fire Department, Darrell Knapper retired as fire chief on June 30. During his time with the department, Knapper served as fire marshal, training officer and EMS coordinator and to this day, he is the only person to have served in all three positions. Knapper said that he has seen a lot of changes in the fire service during his career, including the development of St. Louis County's 911 system. Knapper has been a strong advocate of ARMER, but admitted that in the beginning he had his doubts about the technology and what it could do. Up until the time of his retirement, he worked tirelessly to promote the implementation of ARMER in the county. Knapper was also highly involved in the Arrowhead Regional Fighters' Association and actively promoted the organization to area fire departments. He even offered to drive people to the regional meetings, wherever they were held, a true representation of his belief in the association.