Three Local Fire Departments Each Led by Three Different Chiefs In Less Than One Year

Kirk Summers becomes the third Fire Chief for South Pasadena, San Marino and San Gabriel this year.

Summers, whose position is qualified as “interim,” leads the tri-city fire department command staff for the local cities after the second interim chief, Mark Philips, decided he preferred to remain a deputy fire chief in his own department.

The administrative drama was set in motion earlier this year when the original tri-city Fire Chief James Frawley was wooed away by the City of Santa Cruz. At that time,  city managers from the three cities asked if the current command staff would be interested in stepping up and serve as an interim chief.

Four candidates were interviewed before Mark Philips was appointed as the interim fire chief.

However, according to South Pasadena City Manager Sergio Gonzalez, shortly after accepting the position, Philips realized that he was not interested in the permanent position.

“Chief Philips requested to go back to his original position as a deputy fire chief,” explained Gonzalez. “We certainly wanted to respect his decision and thank him for his willingness to step in when asked. However, that obviously presented a challenge, so we then looked at filling the interim position with an already retired fire chief. We felt that was the quickest way to get the position filled, and decided to bring in Summers. He comes with a lot of experience and is eager to do a good job in overseeing the three departments.”

Summers, who recently retired from the Chino Valley Fire District, brings 38 years of experience as the top fire official in the top position.

The city manager said Summer’s appointment would allow enough time for a search for a permanent replacement.