Former 35 year member and retired captain of the Charleston Fire Department, Walter Eugene Barrineau passes away at 75

The Charleston Fire Department would like to offer our deepest sympathy to the family of retired Captain Walter Eugene (Geno) Barrineau, who recently passed away. He served our department for 35 years and will be missed by all who knew him. The family plans to hold a celebration of life in the near future.

The following brief history of his life and career was submitted by his son, CFD Battalion Chief Robert Barrineau:

Walter Eugene (Geno) Barrineau was born in Charleston S.C. on October 12th, 1947. He was an accomplished athlete in his youth, playing baseball and fighting for the Charleston Police Athletic League as a Golden Gloves Boxer.

He was appointed to the Charleston Fire Department on March 30th, 1971 and was assigned to Engine Company 2 (Central Station). After making Assistant Engineer, he was transferred to Engine Company 6. He was then promoted to Engineer on December 27th, 1974, and was assigned to Engine Company 6 for many years. His other station assignments serving as Engineer included Engine Company 10, Engine Company 8, and Engine Company 3. He was promoted to Captain on August 25th, 1992, where he was assigned to Engine Company 10. He served in that Company for 14 years until his retirement from the CFD in 2006 with 35 years of dedicated service in Operations.

Captain Barrineau was later rehired by Chief Thomas and was assigned to CFD Communications, in which he served as a Dispatcher for a year. He was working on June 18th, 2007, and dispatched the alarm for the Sofa Super Store Fire. During the fire, he was on the phone with the trapped worker providing instruction to remain calm, stay low and to bang on the walls to get the attention of the firefighters. The trapped worker was later found and removed from the building without injury.
Captain Barrineau also worked part-time as a warehouse worker, security guard, butcher, and he was a member of the Local 333 Stagehands Union.

Assistant Chief Joey Roberts recalled that “Captain Barrineau was a mentor to many members of the CFD, both current and retired. He always had a good sense of humor and would always greet you with “hey cuz”. His favorite saying was ‘I love you like a hog loves slop’.”

R.I.P. Captain Barrineau