California Fire Chiefs Foundation: Building Support for Leaders in the Fire Service

Our Mission
The Foundation’s mission is simple but powerful: to empower fire chief officers with resources, support, and recognition. By focusing on professional development, financial assistance, and recognition of leadership excellence, the Foundation ensures that California’s fire service leaders remain prepared to meet today’s challenges while building capacity for tomorrow.

Programs and Initiatives

Scholarship Fund
CFCF provides financial assistance to combination and volunteer chiefs to support dues and conference attendance. These scholarships help ensure that leaders from smaller or resource-limited agencies have equal access to education and professional networking opportunities.

Fire Chief Benevolent Fund
When tragedy strikes a chief officer or their family, the Benevolent Fund provides direct financial support. A rapid response mechanism ensures that help is available quickly in times of greatest need, backed by annual fundraising efforts to sustain this critical program.

California Fire Chief Assistance Program
Leadership often comes with unique challenges. The Assistance Program connects chief officers with a network of experienced peers, workshops, and crisis management resources to support them through organizational difficulties.

Research and Development
The Foundation is committed to advancing an all-risk approach to fire and EMS. By funding studies, pilot projects, and research partnerships with institutions such as UC Davis, the Foundation helps bring innovative practices to the field—ranging from cancer prevention research to data-driven wildland fire modeling.

Hall of Fame
Each year, the Foundation proudly manages the California Fire Chiefs Association Hall of Fame, honoring outstanding fire chief officers whose service has left a lasting impact on the profession.

Current Projects and Accomplishments
The Foundation recently completed the Wildland Urban Interface Data grant, funded by the Moor Foundation, in collaboration with Milliman. Current efforts include the Wildland Resilience Initiative, which focuses on fire spread modeling, data integration, and standardization in partnership with Marin Wildfire Prevention and Napa agencies.

Additionally, the Foundation is deeply engaged in the California Fire Service Cancer Program and Tumor Mutational Landscape Study with UC Davis researcher Dr. John Douglas McPherson and the California Fire Chiefs Association. This groundbreaking effort seeks to better understand occupational cancer risks faced by firefighters.

Governance and Leadership
The California Fire Chiefs Foundation is guided by a dedicated board of directors, representing both CFCA leadership and independent voices from across the fire service.

• President – Chief Brian Fennessy (CFCA Board Member)
  
• Treasurer – Chief Ted Peterson (CFCA Board Member)
  
• Member – Chief Chris Tubbs (Non-CFCA Board Member, new)
  
• Member – Chief Dave Winnacker (Non-CFCA Board Member, new)
  
• Member – Chief Mark Heine (CFCA Board Member)
  
• Member – Chief Alex Hamilton (Section President, EMS Section – representing EMS funds)
  
• Ex-Officio, Non-Voting Member – Jeff Meston, CFCA Executive Director
  

The Foundation board currently has two vacant non-CFCA board member positions and one vacant CFCA board/section president position. These open seats present an opportunity to broaden engagement and ensure all sections of the California fire service have a voice in the Foundation’s mission.

Looking Ahead
The California Fire Chiefs Foundation remains steadfast in its mission: supporting today’s leaders, preparing tomorrow’s, and driving forward research that protects both firefighters and the communities they serve. Through scholarships, assistance programs, benevolent support, research initiatives, and recognition programs, the Foundation is investing directly in the strength and resilience of California’s fire service leadership.