El Mirage taps fire chief

Darrell Rezendes has been named El Mirage's new fire chief, after serving as interim chief for six months.

Rezendes, 52, of Glendale, was chosen out of 30 applicants from 12 states and was one of four finalists. He replaced former Fire Chief Scott Alvord, who resigned in October after 17 months on the job.

His salary is $110,000.

"I'm excited to be selected as the fire chief and looking forward to working with members of the community and department to develop solutions to current problems that we face in public safety, such as growth and technology," Rezendes said.

Before Alvord's resignation, Rezendes worked as deputy fire chief, but City Manager BJ Cornwall appointed him the interim chief while the city launched a nationwide search to fill the position.

There were 30 applicants from across the country, Cornwall said, which was narrowed down to four finalists, including Spencer Kimura, a battalion chief from Glenview, Ill.; Dennis Gault, a 4th District fire chief from Chicago; Martin Oscarson, a retired fire chief from Skokie, Ill.; and Rezendes.

Since Sept. 17, Rezendes has been part of the El Mirage Fire Department. He has been a firefighter since 1980 and has a bachelor of science in fire administration from Colorado State University.

"During his tenure as the interim chief, Darrell showed leadership qualities necessary to lead this department," said Cornwall. "I am confident he'll use his almost 30 years of experience to take the fire department to the next level."

When Alvord resigned, he wrote in a letter: "I plan on taking some time and pursuing some family interests."

This happened at a time when the community was in the process of acquiring a new fire engine, planning a second station and evaluating the pay scale for firefighters.

"It's in our future plans to build a station and that's our goal, because we need to better serve the community with the bigger population we have here now," said Rezendes, a former firefighter who worked in Clark County, Nev.

El Mirage's fire department averages about 3,350 phone calls for service a year and responds to 2,750, while neighboring stations get the rest through a computer-aided dispatch system. About 90 percent of the response times are four minutes or less.

There are 16 firefighters on Rezendes' staff, as well as an administrative assistant.

The department operates with one fire truck and five people to a shift, with another vehicle as a reserve.