Orange County Fire Authority Names New Chief…

Posted online at the City of San Juan Capistrano’s ”Community News” section…
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The Board of Directors at the Orange County Fire Authority (OCFA) appointed Keith Richter as its new fire chief, replacing Chip Prather who is retiring this July. Richter takes the helm on Aug. 1 at one of the largest fire agencies in California with its nearly 850 firefighters at 62 fire stations, according to an OCFA press release.  

“We’re very excited to have Chief Richter at the OCFA,” said Don McCay, Chairman of the OCFA Board of Directors. “We’re confident he has the leadership skills we need to keep OCFA as one of the premier fire service agencies in America.”

Richter was selected by the OCFA Board from a large pool of well-qualified candidates from throughout the nation.

 “This is a very exciting day for me, to be named Chief of the Orange County Fire Authority,” Richter said in the statement Thursday. “OCFA is known to be one of the finest fire departments anywhere, and it is a high honor to be chosen as its next leader.”

Richter comes to the OCFA from Contra Costa County Fire District where he has been chief since 1998. He has more than 30 years experience in the fire service. He started his career with the Tucson Fire Department back in 1977 as a firefighter. Richter holds a Master of Science degree in Fire Administration and is a graduate of Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. He is an Executive Board Member of the Metropolitan Fire Chiefs Association.

Richter replaces Chief Chip Prather who has been OCFA’s leader for the last 12 years. Prather is retiring after nearly 38 years in the fire service.

Posted on the OC Register’s online site…
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Richter takes over as the OCFA, along with departments across California, are facing a financial crunch. A proposal by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to borrow from local government to help the cash-strapped state could take $14 million from the OCFA, Prather wrote in a May 29 message to his department.

That is the equivalent of six engines and 18 firefighters, Prather wrote.

The board hired Alliance Resource Consulting, a Long Beach-based firm, to help find its next chief.

But the two-month selection process and a feeling of being largely excluded from the process touched nerves with the OCFA union. Joe Kerr, president of the Orange County Professional Firefighters Association, lashed out in a May 26 letter sent to all city council representatives of the OCFA’s 22 cities and the county.

The letter accuses the board of directors of failing to give reasons why candidates were either rejected or allowed to move forward in the process, failing to allow the union to give a recommendation and/or a veto on the three final candidates and failing to spell out how the union’s members would be included in selecting the next chief.

“It does no make sense that the OCFA takes far more time to recruit a new firefighter than has been put into the testing process for only our third fire chief in three decades,” wrote Kerr.

“The feeling of collaboration and good will which has brought the OCFA much success in recent years has now suffered major damage by the haphazard manner in which the (board) has decided to ‘fast track’ this testing process and marginalize OCFA employees,” Kerr wrote.

OCFA Battalion Chief Kris Concepcion, a spokesman for the department, said he had not seen the letter.

“This fire chief is going to have some serious challenges,” Kerr said in a telephone interview. “One man cannot come in and solve all these problems by himself. Hopefully, he will seek out some help from labor.”

Prather, 56, is officially retiring July 2 but is scheduled to help with the transition through Aug. 7, Concepcion said.

Richter’s first day is Aug. 1.