News: Chula Vista welcomes new fire chief from Arizona

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

News: Chula Vista welcomes new fire chief from Arizona

Updated: 10-10-08 - The chief of the Tucson's Northwest Fire/Rescue District has changed his mind about taking a job with a fire department in California.

Jeff Piechura had been set to become Chula Vista's new fire chief early next month.

But a statement from the fire district on Friday says family considerations made him decide to stay in Arizona.

The 49-year-old accepted the job as chief of the Chula Vista Fire Department on Wednesday.

Chula Vista has been looking for a new chief for nine months.

Piechura joined Northwest fire as a captain in 1984 and became chief in 1991.

He was named Fire Chief of the Year in 2005 by the Arizona Fire Chiefs Association.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jeff Piechura, currently the fire chief for the Northwest Fire/Rescue District in Southern Arizona was chosen to head the Chula Vista Fire Department, it was announced Wednesday.

Chief Piechura will assume his new position early next month, according to Chula Vista city spokeswoman Liz Pursell.
ChiefPiechura replaces Doug Perry, who retired as Chula Vista's fire chief last December. He will manage a $23 million budget and oversee a staff of 117 at nine fire stations. He will make $161,000 annually.
The 49-year-old Tucson resident began his fire career in 1979 when he became a firefighter for Maricopa County and Mesa, Ariz. He later became a firefighter in Scottsdale, Ariz.

No comments:

How fires get their names

Every year in California thousands of wildfires start throughout the state. In most cases, the dispatch center sending the initial resources to a wildland fire will designate a name for the fire, but the first on scene engine or fire official can also name the incident. Fires are usually named for the area in which they start – a geographical location, local landmark, street, lake, mountain, peak, etc. Quickly naming the fire provides responding fire resources with an additional locater, and allows fire officials to track and prioritize incidents by name. For example during the Southern California Fire Siege of 2003, the largest wildland fire in California history, the Cedar Fire in San Diego County, was named after the Cedar Creek Falls area where it started. The destructive Old Fire, which burned during the same time period in San Bernardino County, was named after the road along which it started - Old Waterman Canyon Road.

CAL FIRE is the largest fire department in California and the second largest fire department in the United States. CDF - CAL FIRE Firefighters answer the call more than 300,000 times a year. CAL FIRE Firefighters make up the fire department for 30 of our 58 counties in California and more than 100 local communities. We serve as the incident command during many of California’s most serious disasters. CAL FIRE Firefighters respond to many various types and forms of calls ranging from structural fires, to auto accidents, to earthquakes, to floods, to the spilling of hazardous materials, to every conceivable disaster; CAL FIRE answer's the calls. CAL FIRE is the largest fire department in California and the second largest fire department in the United States . CAL FIRE firefighters protect 33 million acres of State Responsibility Area (SRA). We have over 4,000 members within CAL FIRE and CAL FIRE is associated with the California Professional Firefighters (CPF) and the International Association of Firefighters (IAFF).

CFN - CALIFORNIA FIRE NEWS - CAL FIRE NEWS

Wednesday, October 8, 2008