Fire News: New Visalia fire chief named

Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Fire News: New Visalia fire chief named

New Visalia fire chief tapped

Starting June 16, those long commutes from Modesto to far-flung fire departments in Northern California will hopefully be a thing of the past for Mark Nelson, the Visalia Fire Department's new chief.

Nelson, 46, was named to the post during Monday night's meeting of the Visalia City Council. He replaces George Sandoval, who retired Aug. 31. Choosing Nelson took nearly eight months, during which city officials reviewed 24 candidates, Janice Avila, human resources director for the city, said in a written statement.

"Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to serve the city of Visalia and its citizens," Nelson said to the council members during their regular Monday night meeting. "I consider it an honor and a privilege to lead such a fine organization."

Firefighters seemed enthused about the selection of Nelson.

"He's young, and we're a young department," Visalia Fire Capt. Darrin Hughes said. Hughes said that Nelson's experience at five different departments in his 24 years as a firefighter will bring new ideas to the Visalia department.

Nelson implemented a firefighter paramedic program while serving as Rio Vista's fire chief, and he helped set up a regional communications center handling fire calls from eight different agencies within

Alameda County while serving in the Union City Fire Department.

Outgoing interim chief Greg Glass gave Nelson high marks.

"I really feel that Mark is going to do a fabulous job for this organization," Glass said.

And, for the first time since 1988, Nelson will not face a long commute to work.

A longtime resident of Modesto, Nelson has commuted to the Northern California cities of San Carlos, Union City, Rio Vista and the Napa Valley.

Moving to Visalia

For this job, he plans to move.

"We will make Visalia our home," Nelson said, "and we're already looking for a house."

Nelson and his wife, Mary Kay, have four children — two daughters, ages 25 and 27, and a pair of young boys, ages 3 and 6.

Story source: visaliatimesdelta.com

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Tuesday, May 6, 2008