Nipomo fire chief retires

Capping a 33-year firefighter career that spanned numerous stations and job descriptions, Battalion Chief Dan Anderson hung up his helmet for the last time this week at the California Department of Forestry station in Nipomo.

“To be a battalion chief for the area I grew up in was a dream for me,” said Anderson, 53, of Grover Beach. “It was an enjoyable career.”

Anderson's position on regional command teams put him in a lead position on some of the state's biggest fires in the past decade, including most recently the Day Fire, which burned more than 160,000 acres in the Los Padres National Forest in September and early October.

“It's stressful being responsible for everybody's safety,” Anderson said. “But the danger of the job never really bothered me.”

Firefighters across the state know Anderson and respect his work on blazes that have devoured hundreds of thousands of acres across California.

Capt. Felix Camacho, who worked closely with Anderson at the Nipomo station, said he was recently helping out at the Esperanza Fire in Riverside County and driving his battalion chief's truck. Firefighters from across the region recognized the truck and told Camacho how much they respect and will miss Anderson on the battle line.

“People were pretty bummed out that he's retiring,” Camacho said. “He's well known throughout the entire state in the CDF family and firefighting family.”

Anderson began his career by operating heavy equipment at Cuesta Camp, and eventually would work for seven years in dispatch and serve as captain in Santa Margarita. He began his stint as battalion chief in Nipomo in 1997, a job that required leading three stations - in Nipomo, the rural Nipomo Mesa and San Luis Obispo Airport.

The unpredictable nature of the job is what initially attracted Anderson to a career with the CDF, and it's that suspense that kept him in the position for his entire working life.

“I liked going to work every day and not knowing what to expect,” he said. “One day we'd have an ocean rescue and the next would be a wildfire.”

Anderson said he decided to retire so he could spend more time with his three children and four grandchildren, most of whom live in Nipomo.

“I want more time with my family,” he said.

His absence will leave large holes in the firefighting family, because “Dan's the kind of boss that every employee hopes to have,” Camacho said.

During his tenure with the CDF, Anderson said he is most proud of adding a second person to each engine full-time, putting paramedics at each of the stations, and continuing a popular vegetation-management program in Nipomo.

The station has not officially announced who the new battalion chief will be, a task that is made difficult by the extraordinary job Anderson did, Camacho said.

Randi Block can be reached at 347-4580 or rblock@santamariatimes.com.

Nov. 6, 2006