Copperas Cove mourns retired Deputy Fire Chief Mike Fleming

Copperas Cove is mourning Mike Fleming, the retired deputy fire chief and fire marshal whose career helped shape how the city handles fires, inspections and emergency readiness today. The city announced his death on June 19, and the loss reached well beyond City Hall, touching the department where Fleming spent more than 34 years building the routines and standards that residents still depend on.

Fleming joined the Copperas Cove Fire Department in 1985 as a dispatcher and advanced steadily through the ranks, from Recruit 1 to deputy fire chief and fire marshal. He was named to that top public-safety post in November 2012 and retired in December 2019. Along the way, he earned honors including Firefighter of the Year and Paramedic of the Year, and he held numerous professional certifications that reflected a career spent working both the fireground and the administrative side of emergency service.

His work as fire marshal had a direct effect on the way Copperas Cove protects homes, businesses and public spaces. The fire prevention and fire marshal office handles fire inspections, fire investigations and public education, including new-construction plan review, occupancy inspections, station tours and Fire Prevention Week activities. The office also investigates the cause, origin and circumstances of fires, and for suspicious or incendiary cases it coordinates with a licensed peace officer under Texas law. Fleming’s commission as a State of Texas Peace Officer in 2015 gave added weight to that responsibility and helped strengthen the city’s investigative and enforcement capacity.

That legacy matters in a department that has grown far beyond its volunteer roots. Founded in 1947, the Copperas Cove Fire Department now provides fire and EMS service to the city and almost 90 square miles of southern Coryell County, averaging about 350 emergency responses each month. Its current operations division serves an estimated 50,000 residents across Copperas Cove and parts of Coryell, Bell and Lampasas counties, with a deputy fire chief of operations, emergency management coordinator, three battalion chiefs, six captains and 36 shift firefighters carrying the workload Fleming helped professionalize.

His death comes as Copperas Cove’s fire service is already in a period of transition. Douglas Matthijetz was appointed fire chief on January 8, 2026, after Gary Young retired effective September 23, 2025, following 36 years of service. Even as the department turns to a new generation of leaders, Fleming’s imprint remains visible in the city’s inspections, investigations and day-to-day readiness, the practical systems that keep Copperas Cove prepared when the alarm sounds.