A 1976 Basehor High School graduate, Magaha joined the department later that year after turning 18.

He’s been involved in the department ever since, serving in various roles.

In August, Magaha was named fire chief.

“I’ve got a very good set of people who volunteer for me,” Magaha said. “Volunteers are getting harder and harder to come by.

“So when you get a good volunteer, you want to be able to hang onto them.”

The department has roughly 25 volunteers, as well as four part-time paid firefighters who staff the station two at a time from 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Mondays through Fridays.

Firefighting runs in Magaha’s family.

His father served in the Fairmount Township department, while son Josh, 32, is a firefighter in Kansas City, Kan. His other son, Brandon, 26, is one of the part-time paid members of the Fairmount Township Fire Department. Brandon started serving in that capacity before his father became fire chief, Chuck Magaha noted.

Magaha’s wife, Darlene, is a nurse at Overland Park Regional Medical Center.

Though he’s been with the fire department for nearly 40 years, he’s also in his 25th year with Leavenworth County Emergency Management.

He started as assistant director.

Magaha recalled working as manager at Waymires IGA in Basehor. The owners sold the store to another individual and Magaha was weighing his options.

Burdell Welsh was emergency management director in the late 1980s and approached Magaha about being assistant director.

Welsh kept on Magaha needing an answer, to which he eventually said yes. Magaha recalled Welsh’s reponse to his answer.

“I’ll be by in 2 minutes,” Magaha recalled Welsh telling him. “It’s flooding in Tonganoxie. Get ready to go to work.”

A few months later, Welsh took another job and Magaha became director, a position he’s had ever since.

Magaha said he’s spent time in recent weeks establishing goals for the department.

He stressed that strong communication would be one of the department’s larger goals.

“We wanted to make sure there’s good communications between city of Basehor and Fairmount Township and the fire department in general,” Magaha said.

He also plans for more interaction with the community, whether through social media or other avenues.

Magaha takes over for Jeff Theno, who stepped down and retired from the department in late July. Theno recently pled guilty to one count felony theft for taking more than $14,000 from the department. His sentencing is in mid-January.

In addition to his emergency management and fire chief duties, Magaha announces home football and basketball games for Basehor-Lijnwood High School.

“I’m still the voice of the Bobcats until they tell me no more,” Magaha said.

In his spare time, Magaha likes to hunt and fish. He especially likes hunting turkey, pheasant and quail.

In general, he likes being outdoors.

“I love to play in my garden, which didn’t do very well this year,” Magaha said with a laugh. “That’s OK.”

He also has two grandkids, Brock, 2, and Maddox, 1, whom he “can’t spend enough time with.”

As for the fire department, Magaha said it’s a special opportunity to serve the department, which has two stations, a main facility at 2624 N. 155th St. and a second at 16380 158th St.

“I’m honored they selected me as their chief,” Magaha said. “We’ve got some growing pains to go through and some scars to heal, but I think we’ll get through it with no problem.”