Fire Chief Certification - The Capstone of the California Fire Service Career Ladder

The California State Fire Marshal’s Office in conjunction with the California State University at Sacramento held a two-day workshop or Fire Chief PACE IV Update.  The California Fire Chiefs Association was well represented at the with Legislative Chair, Chiefs John Binaski, Executive Director Jeff Meston and CalChiefs Training Officers Vice Chair of STEAC, Bret Davidson serving on the PACE IV Fire Chief workgroup held at Sacramento State.  The two day review was focused on updating the selection criteria to deal with today’s Fire Chief Issues, the cadre was enthusiastic working with the CSFM office and looks forward to reviewing the draft changes as suggested by the Pace 4 committee.  

Fire Chief
Fire Chief Certification utilizes a performance assessment process built on the candidate’s education and experiential exposure. State Fire Training awards Fire Chief Certification only after determining the existence of specific competencies in management, leadership, and technical knowledge.

Certification Information
A Fire Chief performs a variety of technical, administrative, and supervisory work in planning, organizing, directing, and implementing fire prevention, suppression, and emergency medical services to prevent or minimize the loss of life and property by fire and emergency medical conditions. Fire Chief is the only certification in the California Fire Chief professional certification series. The requirements for this certification can be found in the SFT Procedures Manual. To apply for this certification, please review and complete the documentation below.

Certification via CPSE Information
The Office of the State Fire Marshal (OSFM) and the Center for Public Safety Excellence (CPSE) both administer professional recognition for Fire Chiefs. OSFM confers Fire Chief Certification and CPSE confers Chief Fire Officer Designation. Both agencies use very similar processes to evaluate and confer recognition. In 2011 both agencies agreed to enter into a memorandum of understanding to initiate reciprocity between the two programs. Listed below are the requirements and application information to apply for reciprocity.

The process of certifying firefighters has its roots in the creation of the Study of a Fireman’s Occupation, a series of documents that were initiated in the 1920s and modified many times over the following decades. In California, the certification system reached a critical point with the adoption of the Master Plan of Training and Education in the early 1970s. Once the certification process had been implemented for Firefighter I, a career ladder process began to evolve that produced several generations of fire service leaders. However, even with this career ladder, a capstone to the certification experience was missing.

The State Board of Fire Services recognized in the early 1990s that the missing element was a process that would recognize the skill levels necessary to be a fire chief. A study was conducted by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) - Office of the State Fire Marshal (OSFM) in cooperation with the League of California Cities to determine what those skill sets were. The analysis resulted in the creation of an application process that combined education, experience, and practical application into a career profile. This process was adopted by the State Board of Fire Services and given the title of “Fire Chief Certification”. Shortly after California’s initial effort in this area, the Commission on Fire Accreditation International (CFAI) instituted a similar process at the international level. The California application process was submitted for consideration and adoption by Center for Public Safety Excellence (CPSE). Both the State of California and the national process have evolved and now mirror one another. CAL FIRE - OSFM has entered into a reciprocity agreement with the CPSE so that candidates from California would achieve recognition at the national level. This reciprocity agreement has been exercised to encourage a high level of professional mobility. The Chief Fire Officer Certification Program sits as a capstone for the certification and qualification system. It should be considered as a goal for upward mobility in the fire service. Its achievement by an individual is a highly desired qualification. The OSFM would like to recognize those fire service professionals who have achieved Fire Chief Certification; those individuals are:

1990-1999

RONNY J. COLEMAN
August 12, 1998
#000001

SCOTT KENLEY
August 12, 1998
#000002

JEFF BOWMAN
August 12, 1998
#000003

JOHN STEVEN BROWN
August 12, 1998
#000004

P. MICHAEL FREEMAN
August 12, 1998
#000005

DALE T. GELDERT
August 12, 1998
#000006

NEIL HONEYCUTT
August 12, 1998
#000007

2000-2009

RON MYERS
February 3, 2000
#000008

GARY LOCKHART
February 3, 2000
#000009

HUGH HOLDEN
February 3, 2000
#000010

MARC J. BOOMGAARDEN
January 30, 2001
#000011

VERNON A. LOSH
January 30, 2001
#000012

PETER M. BRYAN
July 20, 2001
#000013

MARC REVERE
November 19, 2002
#000014

WILLIAM R. SAGER
June 2, 2003
#000015

JEFFREY MESTON
August 23, 2003
#000016

MICHAEL DYER
September 13, 2005
#000017

JOHN R. HAWKINS
June 14, 2006
#000018

RICHARD PRICE
July 25, 2009
#000019

2010-2019

MICHAEL SMITH
August 12, 2010
#000020

MICHAEL MACEY
October 21, 2010
#000021

RANDY BRUEGMAN
September 8, 2011
#000022

GREGORY GRANADOS
September 8, 2011
#000023

SAMUEL MAZZA
January 25, 2012
#000024

ROBERT VAN NORTRICK
July 1, 2013 
#000025

WILLIAM METCALF
October 8, 2014
#000026

EDMOND RODRIGUEZ
May 12, 2015 
#000027

PATRICK MCINTOSH
July 20, 2015
#000028

DAVID WHITE
November 23, 2015 
#000029

NATHAN TRAUERNICHT
November 23, 2015 
#000030

ERIC NICKEL
January 25, 2016 
#000031

DANIEL A. STEFANO 
September 19, 2016
#000032

AARON MCALISTER
September 19, 2016
#000033

LANCE CALKINS
March 24, 2017
#000034

CHRISTIAN TUBBS
May 4, 2017 
#000035

JOHN BINASKI
June 16, 2017 
#000036

EDWARD HADFIELD
November 29, 2017 
#000037

LORENZO GIGLIOTTI
April 20, 2018 
#000038

GREGORY W. BARTON
June 24, 2018 
#000039

2020-Current

RICHARD S. PEARCE
March 5, 2020 
#000040 

JOHN MUHR
October 23, 2021
#000041