HOMEWOOD, Ala. (WIAT) — UPDATE (1/13/2020): Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey has authorized all flags in Jefferson and Shelby County to be flown at half-staff Wednesday in honor of late Homewood Fire Chief John Bresnan.

Chief Bresnan passed away Friday after nearly 28 years in the position.

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UPDATE (1/11/2020): The Homewood Fire and Rescue Facebook page have released the official obituary for Chief John Bresnan, who passed away Friday while on duty.

ORIGINAL (1/10/2020): John Bresnan, the longtime chief of the Homewood Fire and Rescue Service, has died. He was 58 years old.

The news was confirmed through the Alabama Association of Fire Chiefs, who added that Bresnan was found unconscious in his office at 12:30 p.m. Friday of unknown causes. He was later taken to Brookwood Medical Center, where he later died.

Bresnan began working for the department with the Homewood Fire and Rescue Service in 1987 and was promoted to fire chief in 1992, making him the longest standing professional fire chief in Alabama.

“Chief Bresnan was a good man and a great leader in our fire department,” Homewood Mayor Scott McBrayer wrote on the HFRS Facebook page. “He served our city of Homewood and her residents with humility and distinction and will be greatly missed. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family as they go through a very difficult time.”

Growing up in Birmingham, Bresnan spent time volunteering at the Center Point Fire Department when he was growing up. After graduating from Center Point High School, he became a firefighter and paramedic, joining the CPFD in 1979.

During his time in Centerpoint, Bresnan rose to the rank of captain before taking a job at the Homewood department in 1987.

“I have what is probably the best job in the fire service,” Bresnan told the Homewood Star back in 2017. “I love my job. I love coming in to work. I love Homewood.”

One of Bresnan’s last public appearances was on Dec. 31, when he accepted an award on behalf of his father, John Paul Bresnan, from the Alabama Square Dance Callers Association at the Birmingham Square Dance Association Friendship Hall in Fultondale.

The Gardendale Fire Department was one of several departments to send condolences.

Since news of his death, other departments have paid their respects to the longtime firefighter.

Bresnan is survived by his mother Bobbie Bresnan, daughter Lexi Bresnan, stepson Kyle Rayburn and sister Charlotte Poe.

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