Kyle Carpenter never dreamed of becoming a fire chief. He attended Kentucky Wesleyan College in Owensboro in pursuit of a career as a music producer, but he left after one year. “I didn’t succeed in college because I wasn’t doing what I was supposed to do,” he said.
His journey to fire chief began as a volunteer firefighter in Lewisburg in 2008, after witnessing a friend providing emergency aid to the victim of a traffic accident. “I felt useless,” he said. “I never wanted to feel that way again.”
A Mason County native, Kyle joined the Maysville Fire Department in 2012, serving the community in a succession of roles there before becoming fire chief in 2024. As the 10th chief in the department’s 115-year history, Kyle oversees an extended family of 30 full- and part-time firefighters, paramedics and emergency medical technicians.
This “second family” is responsible for responding not only to fires in Maysville, but also all of Mason County’s medical emergencies. The department’s six ambulances and four fire trucks are kept busy. Between the volume of runs doubling in recent years and the regular poaching of experienced firefighters by departments elsewhere, Kyle’s job as fire chief is a constant triaging of tasks.
No one becomes a leader overnight, and Kyle credits his work as technical director at his church coordinating the recording and streaming of church services with giving him the skills to lead firefighters in stressful and dangerous conditions.
For Kyle, being an EMT and firefighter has evolved from a way to avoid feeling useless into a passion, a source of fulfillment and purpose that lets him make a difference to his community. “In stressful situations, it is always calming to have the experience and wisdom of Kyle on the scene,” said Tony Liess, Mason County’s emergency management director. “He’s always willing to lend a hand when he sees someone in need.”
