APOPKA, Fla. – The Apopka fire chief announced this week that he will retire in a few months after facing criticism in training and safety for the department.
In a letter obtained by News 6, Chief Sean Wylam wrote to his firefighters Tuesday about his intent to retire.
“After several months of thinking, praying, and many thoughtful discussions with my wife and family I am writing to inform all of you of my decision to retire from my position as Fire Chief of the Apopka Fire Department, effective October 31st 2024,” he wrote.
Wylam has served the Apopka Fire Department for 22 years and believes it’s time for a change.
“It’s been five years since I’ve taken over. One of the things I promised first my wife and then my fellow officers was five years,” Wylam said.
The announcement comes over a year after an overwhelming majority of firefighters in Apopka’s firefighters union voiced no confidence in his leadership.
“Serving this community and leading our dedicated team of fire and emergency service personnel has been one of the greatest honors of my life. I have spent more than half my life working for the Apopka Fire Department and have met and worked with tremendous people. Over the past 22 years, I have had the privilege to witness our department’s growth and resilience, facing numerous challenges together,” Wylam said in the letter.
In March 2023, the president of the firefighters union, Alex Klepper, said 85% of the union workforce had no confidence that Wylam “has the competence and abilities to lead the Apopka Fire Department forward and provide a safe and proactive environment for continued managed growth.”
“Sounds like something I said two years ago,” Klepper said in reaction to Wylam’s retirement announcement. “He has drug this department through the mud for two years since Austin was killed.”
The comments came after the death of 25-year-old Austin Duran, who died weeks after he was injured on the job in June 2022.
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In the days that followed, concerned residents and Duran’s family showed up to city hall, calling for Wylam to be replaced.
Mike Duran, Austin Duran’s father, said the chief’s retirement is “something that I have been advocating for for two years.”
“When he specifically says in his retirement letter about challenges, why not dive into that? Why not, I mean, say his name? The challenges was Austin and what transpired from that.”
Mike Duran said since his son’s death, the department has a training chief and a health and life safety chief “that Austin did not have.”
“With Wylam leaving, it now opens this opportunity to bring better leadership into the department. So this is very, very huge,” he said. “... My fight isn’t for my son. He’s gone. My fight is for the firefighters that remain.”
The union expressed its issues with safety and training protocol. Wylam was criticized for not doing enough to make improvements.
“Chief Wylam has failed to hold himself accountable for anything, he has failed in his accountability to Austin, his family and to us, he’s taken no accountability for failures in training, safety, planning, staffing, organizational structure, and he unconscionably accepted a flawless annual performance evaluation,” Klepper said in a presentation in March 2023 to the Apopka City Council.
Wylam started his fire service career in Eatonville in 2001 and joined the Apopka Fire Department in October 2002.
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