Scott Westrope named new Santa Rosa fire chief

Mar. 15—Santa Rosa has selected Scott Westrope as its next fire chief, elevating the city's deputy fire chief to the top firefighting job after more than two decades with the Santa Rosa Fire Department.

Westrope's firefighting career stretches back 27 years, 21 of which have been with the Santa Rosa Fire Department. The Tubbs fire veteran had been serving as interim chief of the 151-position department for the past few months.

His experience in 2017 fires, both as a firefighter and as a resident who lost his home, played a big part in why he sought the top job on a permanent basis, he said Monday.

"That's one of the biggest things," said Westrope, 47. "I put myself into this position because I don't want that to happen again. I don't want to have to tell my kids they lost everything again. I don't want anybody else to have to tell their kids they lost everything again."

Westrope had been the deputy fire chief for the past three years and won the appointment from City Manager Sean McGlynn after what City Hall termed a "nationwide and extensive recruitment."

"We were fortunate to have a strong and competitive group of candidates for our next fire chief, but Scott rose to the top in the areas most important for our community," McGlynn said in a written statement. "Not only has he demonstrated immense leadership through previous local wildfires and work with community partners and other agencies, but during his interim post as chief, he brought forward a plan for strengthening the resiliency of our fire organization and the community and strategized a path toward a more inclusive and diverse workforce.

"Scott has demonstrated his incredible commitment to serving Santa Rosa over the years, and I look forward to seeing how the Santa Rosa Fire Department will continue to evolve under his leadership."

Westrope has led the department on an interim basis since the December retirement of Chief Tony Gossner. Westrope also has served on the dispatch operations board for REDCOM, the county's emergency dispatch system, and has been on REDCOM's board of directors since December.

His first day on the job was Monday, and his starting salary will be $217,510.

Westrope grew up in San Luis Obispo County and previously worked for the Pismo Beach Fire Department and for the San Luis Obispo ambulance service. He moved to Sonoma County for a firefighting job in 2000. He and his family now in Larkfield.

Out of his two decades with the Santa Rosa Fire Department, he singled out the 2017 wildfires as both a highlight and lowlight.

"This organization and the fire service community stepped up and stood in front of a freight train that wasn't going to be stopped," he said. "We did everything we could with what we had."

Westrope said he hopes to build on the upgrades in firefighting preparedness made after the 2017 firestorm, which killed 24 people in Sonoma County and destroyed more than 5,300 homes, including about 5% of the Santa Rosa's housing stock.

By contrast when the Glass fire swept into northeast Santa Rosa last year, no one died, and only about 30 homes inside city were lost, Westrope said. (Three hundred more were destroyed outside the city.)

But Westrope chalked up the significant saves — of lives and property — to better mutual aid response, improved emergency alerts and more aggressive staffing during times when weather conditions lend themselves to extreme wildfire behavior.

"We may have these fires come into Santa Rosa," Westrope cautioned. His goal is to "have enough in place that we can hold the line and not lose any homes, and certainly not lose any lives."

Going forward, Westrope noted that the fire department will be looking to carry out $8 million worth of brush management and strategic planning authorized last month by the City Council. That includes focusing on how the city can bolster its fire service even if the city doesn't add any new stations or firefighters, he said.

"We have a pretty good system, but how can we be better with our operations on a day-to-day basis?" Westrope said.

The department runs on on annual budget of $48.2 million, which has been flat the past two years. Rebuilding Fire Station 5, which was destroyed in the Tubbs fire, is one of the department's top priorities. New stations in northeast and southeast Santa Rosa also are key parts of of its longer-term planning efforts.

Westrope also expressed a desire to better engage the community with the daily work of firefighters — showing the extent of what they do not just during major disasters.

"The city and community are just so close-knit," Westrope said, "and that's one of the things I love about this place, is the tie of the community."

You can reach Staff Writer Will Schmitt at 707-521-5207 or [email protected]. On Twitter @wsreports.

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