Fire Chief, City of La Habra (Retired).
Specialist in Urban Search & Rescue, Incident Management and Threat Assessment. Mike recently retired from the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (OES), where he was Deputy Chief, Fire and Rescue Branch, in charge of Special Operations. He was responsible for the management, training, and response of California’s eight Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) Task Forces. Mike also coordinated the California fire service response and operations at incidents involving hazardous materials, weapons of mass destruction, terrorism, floods & fast moving water, mass casualty/fatality incidents.
Recently, for the California Emergency Medical Service (EMS) Authority, Terrorist Threat Assessment Center Development, Mike was responsible for the development of initial EMS criteria, tactics and strategies for the State Terrorist Threat Assessment Center (STTAC) and Medical Threat Analysis, Planning and Response Program.
Mike brings 29 years of experience in fire service, including seven years as Fire Chief for the City of La Habra in Orange County, California. During the past 25 years he has specialized in Technical Heavy Rescue as a Senior Instructor in Heavy Rescue Systems for the California State Fire Marshals Office and Lead Instructor for OES and FEMA USAR Response System Advanced Task Force training. Currently he is a contract instructor for CSTI providing instruction in large-scale disaster incident management, focusing on Unified Command Operations using ICS, SEMS and NIMS.
Mike possesses a Bachelor’s degree in Public Administration from the University of La Verne in Southern California, Associate degrees in Fire Technology and Paramedical Science, and a Lifetime California Community College Teaching Credential. He has have worked with business and industry designing and implementing their Emergency Disaster Contingency Plans with hands-on training.
Over the years, Mike has responded as a team member to many disaster situations worldwide, among them: Leninakan, Soviet Armenia in 1988, the Loma Prieta Earthquake, Hurricane Emily, and Northridge Earthquake. As part of the FEMA USAR Advance Incident Support Team, he responded to the Oklahoma City Federal Building, Hurricane Georges, and the World Trade Center in New York City, where he acted as Agency Representative for the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services to interface with the FDNY Rescue Command, integrate the FEMA USAR Task Forces into the rescue effort, and provide technical support and leadership in extremely hazardous environments.
