June 30--Demetrious Shaffer was the last chief of the Newark Fire Department before it merged with the Alameda County Fire Department. Now he is the interim chief of the Alameda County Fire Department, which took over the Newark agency in 2011.
He was named to his new post after the departure of Alameda County fire Chief Sheldon Gilbert. The transition was scheduled to happen July 31, but the Alameda County Board of Supervisors made Shaffer's promotion from assistant fire chief official on June 13, a day after Gilbert announced he would leave more than a month early to work for the county's emergency ambulance provider, Paramedics Plus, as a lobbyist.
"While Chief Gilbert's departure was sooner than expected," wrote Supervisor Nate Miley, "Demetrious is well prepared to step into the role as interim fire chief based on his experience as the Newark fire chief and the president of the California Fire Chiefs Association."
Shaffer began his career 1990 with the Campbell Fire Department. After about a year, he moved to the Mountain View Fire Department and was promoted to battalion chief in 2000.
He was hired in 2005, at the age of 33, to head Newark's fire department, which covered three stations and about 13 square miles, about the same size as Mountain View.
As the interim chief of Alameda County's fire department, Shaffer will oversee more than 500 employees, including nearly 400 firefighters. The department serves the unincorporated
county areas of Sunol, Castro Valley, San Lorenzo and Ashland; the cities of Dublin, San Leandro, Newark and Union City; and the Lawrence national laboratories in Livermore and Berkeley. In addition, Emeryville will merge with Alameda County fire on Sunday.
Shaffer did not respond to emails or calls asking him to comment on the promotion.
Supervisors have not yet begun the search for a permanent replacement.
Gilbert's first day as the director of business development and government affairs for Paramedics Plus was June 25.
His new duties include working on behalf of Paramedics Plus on a national and local level to create new business. He'll also be responsible for lobbying elected officials to develop legislation and regulations to benefit the ambulance industry and service for consumers.
Copyright 2012 - The Oakland Tribune, Calif.
