City of Salinas Fire Department: Fire Chief finalists

Thursday, March 19, 2009

City of Salinas Fire Department: Fire Chief finalists

City of Salinas Narrows Search for Fire Chief

SALINAS, Calif. - While a lot of the focus in Salinas has been on the search for a new police chief, the city is also looking for a new fire chief. Ed Montes officially retired late last year.

City Manager Artie Fields says he received more than 60 applications for the top post. None of them were in-house candidates. After reviewing the applications, they've narrowed down the field and are about to make a final decision. The finalists are all from California and are current fire chiefs.

One of the finalists is 52-year-old Kim Raddatz, who's the fire chief for the Coronado Fire Department. He has 30 years of experience with fire service, including working for CALFire and the Lakeside Fire Protection District in San Diego County.

He says, he's hoping to help with strategic planning and develop the department internally, which he did under a five-year plan in Coronado.

Another finalist is Seaside Fire Chief Jerry Wombacher, who's 50 years old. He has more than 25 years of experience, including working for the Monrovia and Monterey Park Fire Departments. He's served as fire chief for Seaside for more than seven years.

Wombacher says, as a local fire chief, he wants to continue to work closely with the rest of the agencies in the area to tackle issues.

Mayor Dennis Donohue says, "We've got to maintain the professionalism of the department, service levels of the department. We also want create some revenue opportunities. Chief Montes had the same level of passion and commitment towards training."

The city is doing background checks on the finalists and hopes to announce the new chief in a matter of days. If everything goes as planned, the new fire chief will start the first week in May. His salary will be around $204,000.

On a side note, Fields says, the city is also in the final stages for a new police chief in Salinas. He hopes to have a new police chief hired by the first week of April.

Salinas Fire Department: Salinas City limits cover approximately 19.25 square miles. The Salinas Fire Department presently has six stations with the plans and land allocated for station seven. Salinas has a contract with Salinas Rural Fire Protection District to provide fire protection services to a portion of their Fire Protection District. This brings the total protection area for Salinas to approximately 35 square miles.
Source: www.kcba.com - Link

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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.

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Thursday, March 19, 2009