The heads of firefighting agencies from throughout California named Orange County Fire Chief Brian Fennessy Fire Chief of the Year, officials said Thursday.
The Ronny Jack Coleman Award is given in recognition of exceptional leadership in fire and rescue services. Fennessy received multiple nominations to receive the honor from the leaders of other firefighting agencies.
One of them, Mammoth Lakes Fire Chief Frank Firevalt, said Fennessy served with “genuine humility” and described him as an example “of what ‘right’ looks like over decades of service.”
Fennessy began his career with the U.S. Forest Service as a member of a hotshot crew, an elite team assigned to tackle the most dangerous wildfires. He went on to join San Diego Fire-Rescue in 1990 and was eventually promoted to the chief of that department in 2015.
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