Retirement: Riverside Fire Chief Tedd Laycock

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Retirement: Riverside Fire Chief Tedd Laycock

Riverside Fire Chief Tedd Laycock announced Tuesday he will retire this month.

Laycock started with the Fire Department in 1973 after taking firefighting classes at Riverside City College.

His last day will be Feb. 20.

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He has seen increases in staff and stations since becoming chief in 2005. Those included a training and emergency operations center and an urban search-and-rescue warehouse in addition to three fire stations, stated a city news release.

The demands of firefighting have also morphed in his 35 years on the job. He took part in early classes for emergency medical services and remembers a memo complaining about time spent on medical calls versus fire calls, the release stated.

Now firefighters must know about a variety of topics from hazardous material and urban search and rescue to weapons of mass destruction, according to the release.

Firefighting was not Laycock's first love.

He wanted to be a Southern California Edison linesman like his father but did not meet the height requirement, he recalled when he became chief. He also thought about being a police officer before deciding on firefighting.

He rose to engineer in 1981, captain in 1984, battalion chief in 2002 and served as division chief in the training division in 2004, the release stated.

He also helped lead the California Task Force 6 Urban Search and Rescue Team, which participated in efforts after both Sept. 11 and Hurricane Katrina.

Source: pe.com - Link

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Wednesday, February 11, 2009