Salt Lake City fire chief resigns

Calling it a tough but ultimately right decision, Salt Lake City Fire Chief Tom Shannon announced his resignation Tuesday, just 10 months after taking office, citing family challenges taking priority over his career.

"It's in the best interest of my family in Arizona," Shannon said. "I have every confidence the organization will be just fine."

Shannon summarized his reason for resigning by saying the whole world changed in October, just about the same time as he was getting packed for Utah.

The housing market in Arizona, like the rest of the nation, went belly up, and Shannon was never able to sell his home there. His wife, also a firefighter, was faced with some tough choices about her own career and never got to join her husband in Utah.

"I had to decide what's more important here, my personal career or the well-being of my family," he said.

Shannon said he had been talking with Mayor Ralph Becker about his decision for about a week and finally made the announcement to his staff Tuesday.

"It was an emotional meeting," Salt Lake City Fire spokesman Scott Freitag said.

"His wife is there, and his father's been ailing," said Karen Hale, the mayor's director of communications. "After almost a year, he had to make the decision what to do. It was a really emotional and difficult decision for him to make. The mayor was really saddened by the news but certainly understands and respects the family commitment that Chief Shannon has."

Despite only being chief since November, Shannon had already made his mark on the department with the projects he was instituting, Freitag said.

"The fire department has been well led," he said. "He brought a new sense of excitement and energy. He was a charismatic leader. He did a tremendous job as a communicator. He helped set us on a new course. He was very well liked by the department. This has been difficult for everybody, including him."

"When you work for an organization you've just come to love, these people aren't just co-workers, they're family members," Shannon said. "It's always tough to make a decision to leave."

Shannon, who has 20 years of firefighting experience, came to Utah from Glendale, Ariz. In addition to fighting fires, he is enrolled in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's post-graduate school for a master's degree of international studies in homeland security.