Lakeport Fire welcomes its new chief
- Elizabeth Larson
- Posted On
LAKEPORT, Calif. – Lakeport Fire’s new chief is on the job and hard at work, learning more about the people he serves, his district and the challenges it faces in keeping the community safe.
The Lakeport Fire Protection District Board hired Jeffrey Thomas as the new chief last month, as Lake County News has reported. He succeeded Rick Bergem, who is retiring after decades in the fire service.
Thomas is a California native who spent his childhood in Richmond before going off to play football on a scholarship at the University of Utah.
Later, he started his career with the Salt Lake City Fire Department, where he served for 36 years.
When he became battalion chief on April 1, 2005, he was the first Black firefighter to hold the role and the first Black fire officer in the state of Utah.
April 1, incidentally, was his first day on the job in Lakeport, where he’s again breaking new ground as the department’s first Black chief. He’s also believed to be the first Black fire executive officer to serve in a Lake County agency.
Since arriving in Lakeport, Thomas said he has received an “overwhelming” show of community support.
Not only is he enjoying the welcome from the community, but he said he’s also coming back to the earth and soil he loves in Northern California.
He was well acquainted with Clear Lake and Lake County before applying to be the new fire chief.
As a child his family would camp at Clear Lake State Park. During his interview with Lake County News in his office at the downtown station, he called himself a Northern California “homeboy” whose pastimes include fishing, hunting and golf.
Over the last several years, he’s often driven the 12 hours from Salt Lake City to go fishing on Clear Lake.
Not long after arriving to start work in Lakeport this month, he went out on Clearlake for some crappie fishing and instead caught the “fish of a lifetime,” reeling in a 9.4-pound largemouth bass.
He released the fish, but he’s got the experience on video.
Once he hit the 30-year mark with Salt Lake City, Thomas said he began to look for a chief’s job in Northern California.
Lakeport turned out to be the right fit professionally and personally. He’s just two hours from his mother and now living in an area where he loves to fish.
Making the transition
Thomas brings new skill sets to Lakeport Fire, including experience managing a much larger firefighting force.
In Salt Lake City, Thomas said the fire district has 380 firefighters. That’s compared to Lakeport’s 12 personnel.
Salt Lake City covers 110 square miles, has about 200,000 residents in the city limits and 1.2 million in the metropolitan area.
The city of Lakeport has 4,698 residents, according to the latest estimates from the state Department of Finance. The fire district previously reported that it serves about 10,000 residents inside and outside of the city limits.
Thomas said Salt Lake City doesn’t really have wildland fires, with grass and vegetation fires being more common There, the challenges relate more to urban firefighting, as compared to Lakeport, which has an almost year-round fire season.
He said he wants to find ways to get the district more resources, including having more personnel on shift in order to respond when needed. You can only do the amount of work resources allow, he added.
Thomas also has identified some challenges, including interrupted hydrant supply on Main Street and on Soda Bay Road, and local bridges that can’t handle the passage of equipment.
In addition to wildland fires, Thomas wants to be ready for earthquakes, referring to a 4-magnitude quake that occurred this week and was felt around Lake County. That quake happened just over the Sonoma County line.
“There’s a lot of work that needs to be done,” he said, adding that he’s not afraid of work.
He offered the adage, “Inch by inch, life is a cinch,” a quote attributed to author John Bytheway.
For now, Thomas said he’s studying the budget, assessing the operational readiness of his team and trying to prepare for a potentially huge wildland fire season ahead. It’s a matter of think, plan, act.
“We want everyone to be prepared and ready,” he said.
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