News: Tracy hires its first full-time fire marshal, Jake Tomlin of Mountain House.

Jake Tomlin took the seat as Tracy's first full-time fire marshal two weeks ago and says he's already set out to "vamp up the program."

The 43-year-old Mountain House resident will concentrate his efforts on public education, enforce things such as weed abatement laws, and carry out most all inspections and plan reviews, instead of paying outside contractors as the city does now.

"Once we have the staff, we can do inspections and plan reviews in-house," Tomlin said.

He also wants to expand the fire department's education facet to teach more people, from kindergartners to seniors, how to prevent fires through classes on vacation checklists, safety in the workplace, disaster and terrorism preparedness and babysitting tips, among others. For the past few years, firefighters have taught fire safety to fourth-graders through its Learn not to Burn presentation.

"I'd like us to do more," said Tomlin, who wants to also prod people who don't have working smoke detectors. "People are dying in homes more than in commercial buildings, so I hope to focus my efforts there."

Fire department employees were rotating into the fire marshal position each year to cover the basics of fire prevention. After a review three years ago, an outside contractor suggested the fire department hire a fire marshal with an engineering background to focus on prevention.

"Our city has grown so there's a greater need in the fire prevention program," Tracy division chief Andy Kellogg said. "Being from Mountain House, Jake understands the local issues. The learning curve for him is much smaller than someone from out of the area."

Before he came to Tracy, Tomlin worked as a deputy fire marshal with the Santa Clara County Fire Department for three years. When he heard about the position he jumped at the chance to work close to home and alongside employees he'd heard good things about. Tomlin earned his bachelor's degree in fire protection with an emphasis on safety engineering and technology from Oklahoma State University, and previously worked for Stanford University, the University of California, Berkeley, and Ohio State University.

The Isleton-native moved to Mountain House four years ago from Fremont because he missed the small-town atmosphere. He's watched the town swell from just a few homes in 2003 to nearly 6,000 residents today. Mountain House contracts its fire services out to Tracy’s fire department.

Tomlin and his wife of two months, Karla, 29, like to motorcycle, scuba dive, camp, fish and hunt.

Source: Tracy Press