July 30--After a nationwide search for a new fire chief, Colorado Springs Mayor Steve Bach offered the job to the Pueblo fire chief, who wasn't among the 40 applicants but was recruited late last week.
Christopher Riley, 52, who has been in the fire service nearly 32 years -- including the last seven as the Pueblo chief -- said Monday he was offered the job soon after he was interviewed. Riley will start work Sept. 9, pending City Council confirmation.
"I'm extremely excited at this very unique and extraordinary opportunity. But I do have some mixed emotions because I love the department and the city here," Riley said in a telephone interview from Pueblo.
"They've been great to work with. It's been my home for seven years, and I have some very good, established professional and personal friendships and relationships. It's always hard to think about saying goodbye to something like that," he said.
Riley will be paid $145,000 annually, slightly less than the $147,657 received by former fire Chief Rich Brown.
Brown, who retired in April after a 32-year career, remains temporarily on the city's payroll as a consultant, receiving his full salary and benefits.
Laura Neumann, chief of staff for Bach, said Riley is a widely respected local leader in the fire service. She said Riley also has extensive experience with the wildland urban interface -- populated areas that are prone to wildfire.
"His reputation as an executive and being a known quantity as a progressive and collaborative fire chief trumped all other applicants," she said in an email. "The city is pleased to bring Chris' strong professional expertise and leadership talent to the Colorado Springs Fire Department."
Neumann said the city knew of Riley's "excellent qualifications and attributes" because of its relationship with him and the city of Pueblo. Riley knew of the job opening in Colorado Springs and had informal conversations with members of the city's executive team over the last few months, but he was happy in his current job, she said.
"So, he did not formally express interest in discussing our opportunity until the application process had closed and he spoke with Interim Chief (Tommy) Smith at a state conference," she said.
Neither Smith nor any other Colorado Springs firefighter applied for the job.
Smith and Steve Dubay, both deputy chiefs in the Colorado Springs Fire Department, did not respond to a request for comment.
Jeremy Kroto, president of the Local 5 firefighters union, said he couldn't explain the lack of internal candidates.
"I can't speak accurately on the individual ambitions of our current command staff," he said.
But, he added, "I can say wholeheartedly that we truly appreciate the leadership provided by Interim Chief Smith over the past several months. He has worked diligently to move the department forward in a positive manner. He's truly exhibited respect from the top down for the men and women of the CSFD."
Kroto said Riley called him Monday morning and pledged to work with Local 5.
"We're confident that Chief Riley will continue the practice of seeking input from the women and men tasked with providing the world-class public safety our citizens are accustomed to having," he said.
Kroto's counterpart in Pueblo, Chad Thomas, president of the Local 3 firefighters union, called Riley "very professional" and "very fair."
"He had an open-door policy with me as the union president, which made it a lot easier for us to try to get things accomplished," he said. "He was one of those that as long as you treat him with respect, he would reciprocate."
Unlike Colorado Springs, the Pueblo firefighters have collective bargaining power and binding arbitration.
In general, Riley is liked among the rank and file, Thomas said.
"Just like with any boss, certain people loved him and some people didn't. But you're going to get that anywhere," he said.
Riley said one of his milestones in Pueblo was leading the department to accreditation. He also said two fire stations were built and firefighter staffing at the Pueblo Airport increased under his tenure.
Riley said he's "very familiar" with wildland firefighting operations and that the challenges facing Colorado Springs in the wildland urban interface are among his top priorities, though he didn't say how he would address them.
"We had a lot of wildland response in Orange County (in California) and throughout the state, actually, so it was pretty routine that we would be deployed on what's called strike team responses, very similar to what Springs faced with Waldo and most recently Black Forest," said Riley, who was a battalion chief in California.
Riley said he's eager to make his mark in Colorado Springs, where he will oversee 427 firefighters.
"I'm very honored that Mayor Bach and the team up there believes in me enough to offer me the position, and I will bring 100 percent of my work abilities to the office every day," he said.
Copyright 2013 - The Gazette (Colorado Springs, Colo.)
