On Tuesday, Sept. 4, Fire Chief Greg Fish announced his plans to retire after a successful 31-year public safety career with the City of Glendale.

Over the years, Chief Fish has made it a priority to ensure the safety of the Glendale community. Chief Fish has been the incident commander on many significant emergencies and has built long-lasting relationships in the City. He is credited with implementing a comprehensive training video series for the cities of Glendale, Burbank and Pasadena.

Chief Fish had the privilege of leading 270 sworn and non-sworn personnel and has taken great pride in maintaining a Class 1 Fire Department.
“It has been an honor to lead such a dedicated team of men and women whose first priority has always been to serve the community,” said Chief Fish as he reflected on his years of service. As the fourth-largest city in Los Angeles County, the Glendale Fire Dept. serves an area of 30.7 square miles that is home to about 205,000 residents. The department responds to over 19,000 incidents within the City and other nearby jurisdictions.

Chief Fish will continue to lead the department until Sept. 28.

“I congratulate Chief Fish on his decades of service to the community,” said City Manager Yasmin Beers. “He is a local success story dedicated to his community. He will be sorely missed and will be difficult to replace.”

In order to ensure a smooth leadership transition, Deputy Chief Bill Lynch and Deputy Chief Silvio Lanzas will be appointed to the position of interim fire chief consecutively before proceeding with the hiring of the position.

Deputy Chief Lynch’s appointment to interim fire chief will be effective Sept. 29 to Nov. 30. During this time, Deputy Chief Lanzas will move from his full-time position in the Verdugo Fire Communications Center to the deputy chief position overseeing Operations and Emergency Medical Services, with continued supervision of Verdugo. Also throughout this time, Deputy Chief Lynch will continue to oversee fire prevention, training and administration.

Deputy Chief Lanzas’ appointment to interim fire chief will be effective Dec. 1  to Jan. 31, 2019. During this time, Deputy Chief Lynch will move back to overseeing operations, training, and fire prevention. Also throughout this time, Deputy Chief Lanzas will continue to supervise the Verdugo Fire Communications Center, Emergency Medical Services, and Administration.