A face that is very familiar to the Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District is taking the wheel of the agency as its new Fire Chief this week. Longtime Metro employee Adam house will become the 7th chief of the district and will be the first leader for the agency that has continued to serve within it since it was formed in 2000.
After a nationwide search for candidates, House, was selected by the Metro Board of Directors as the ideal candidate to fill the role. He first joined Metro Fire in 2000 as a firefighter and then advanced through the ranks of the department to his most recent position of assistant chief.
“As a trusted member of Metro Fire’s leadership team for many years, Chief House has the experience and respect of the Board members and the district’s employees to lead this organization in the coming years,” said Metro Fire Board President D’Elman Clark. “We have great confidence that under his leadership Metro Fire will remain one of the best fire districts on the West Coast for effectiveness and innovation.”
During his career, House has achieved many accolades, among it was the leadership of the Metro Fire Special Operations Division where he was the initial program manager for the Type 1 Hazardous Materials program. He has also played an important role in firefighter recruitment over the years and served as a drill master in the Fire Academy. In addition to his above roles, House has filled the roles of captain, battalion chief, division manager of training, health and safety and chief officer.
House is a native to Sacramento County, graduating from Cordova High School in 1987. He has worked in the public service sector for more than three decades now, serving as a firefighter in the United States Army and in Yuma, Arizona, where he was eventually promoted to captain.
He began his public service career 23 years ago in the county he has always called home with Metro Fire, where he has served in a variety of roles, including firefighter, captain, battalion chief, division manager of training, health and safety, chief officer, and assistant chief.
House will replace current interim chief Dan Haverty. Haverty, also a Sacramento native, was selected as the department’s interim chief in January of this year.
Haverty has served 30 years in the fire service, with 20 of those years at Metro Fire. During his fire service tenure, he promoted through the ranks at Metro Fire reaching the position of assistant chief, as well as served as the Chief Assistant Deputy Director for the Training and Exercise Division at the California Governor’s Office of Homeland Security. In 2007, he retired from Metro Fire to become the Fire Chief for the City of Folsom, a position he held until 2010. Dan has also served as the Interim Fire Chief in the cities of Lodi, Sacramento and a second tenure in Folsom.
House is set to officially be sworn on on Thursday, Aug. 10 in a special ceremony and celebration amongst the department.
The Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District serves a population of over720,000 in a 359 square mile service area. Metro Fire is the 7th largest fire agency in the State of California.
Metro Fire is a combination of 16 smaller fire departments that, over the years, merged to create this California Special District. The last merger was in December 2000 when American River Fire Department and Sacramento County Fire Protection District merged to form the Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District, pursuant to Government Code Section 56839. As a special district, Metro Fire is governed by a Board of Directors; each member is elected by the voters within a geographical area, or division, of Metro Fire’s operational area.
On any given day, there are 155 on-duty personnel to serve the District’s communities. Routine and emergency operations are managed with five (5) Battalion Chiefs with oversight through an Assistant Chief assigned a 24-hour shift. Metro Fire is comprised of three branches – Operations, Administration, and Support Services.
Operations includes Fire & Rescue, Emergency Medical, Training & Safety, Special Operations, Homeland Security, Fire Investigation, and Health & Wellness Divisions.The Administration Branch consists of Economic Development, Finance, Human Resources, and Community Risk Reduction. Support Services oversees Facilities, Fleet Maintenance, Logistics Divisions and Information Technology Divisions.