#LAFD News: James G. Featherstone Appointed Interim Los Angeles Fire Department Fire Chief. #CaFire

Friday, November 8, 2013

#LAFD News: James G. Featherstone Appointed Interim Los Angeles Fire Department Fire Chief. #CaFire

On November 1, 2013, James G. Featherstone was appointed by Mayor Eric Garcetti as Interim Fire Chief of the LAFD. Featherstone, a native of Washington D.C. and veteran of the United States Navy, began his service with the City of Los Angeles in 1986 as an LAFD firefighter.

James G. Featherstone Interim LAFD Fire Chief

In his capacity as a firefighter and officer, Featherstone worked during numerous major local and regional incidents and events including the 1992 Civil Disturbance, the 1993 Firestorms, the 1994 Northridge Earthquake, and the 2000 Democratic National Convention. His varied assignments with the LAFD included tours as Public Information Officer, Recruit Academy Peer Instructor, Chief Officer’s Staff Assistant, Station Commander, Task Force Commander, and Tactical Training Officer. Additionally, he served on both the Executive Board and Negotiating Team of the United Firefighters of Los Angeles City, Local 112.

In 2007, Featherstone was appointed General Manager of the City of Los Angeles’ Emergency Management Department (LA EMD). He successfully reorganized the Department and restructured LA’s emergency management process by prioritizing coordination between disciplines and agencies while focusing on all-risk readiness. The LA EMD is now nationally recognized as a model of modern, effective emergency management. Featherstone is the current Chair of the National Advisory Council for the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Featherstone earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Public Administration from Union Institute and University and is an alumnus of the National Fire Academy, and the Executive Leaders Program at the Naval Postgraduate School’s Center for Homeland Defense and Security.

He has completed the National Preparedness Leadership Initiative and the Leadership in Crisis Programs at Harvard University, where he is an Ash Fellow in the Kennedy School of Government's Program on Crisis Leadership. He is currently enrolled in the Executive Masters of Leadership Program at the University of Southern California.

Jim and his wife Shawn live in Los Angeles. Their adult daughter, Chuva, lives abroad.

More Information contact: Erik Scott, PIO

Emergency Public Information (EPI) Center
Los Angeles Fire Department
213.576.8938

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CFN - California Fire News 2013

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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.

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

Friday, November 8, 2013