California Fire Chiefs Association
Fire Prevention Officers Section

Past Presidents List

So Cal and Nor Cal FPO's are very proud of our current and past leaders. We recognize the many contributions they have made and continue to make. Please honor them by taking a few minutes to review the list below:

So Cal FPO's

Nor Cal FPO's

Year President Jurisdiction 1949 William E. Fox Inglewood 1950 Thomas H. Brown Downey 1951 Robert W. Gain Downey 1952 Some interesting highlights about Al Hunt from his son and one of our current members, Jim Hunt: He had an all saxophone band in vaudeville days, in the 20's, and traveled around the country playing all the big theaters. In 1929, sound movies came in and vaudeville took a dump. (con't next column) Al W. Hunt Glendale So he was in a sheet music shop one day in Glendale in 1929, and a Fireman came up to him and said, the Fire Department is starting a band, why don't you join the Fire Department. So he did, and spent 32 years there, made BC, and got the Fire Prevention bug like all of us, and spent many years in the bureau. He used to tell me that when I got on the FD to make engineer and stay there, but I didn't have enough sense to listen. turns out he was right!!. Jim Hunt 1953 Milan A. Priest Los Angeles County 1954 Leonard V. Foster Long Beach 1955 Harry E Wainwright San Bernardino County 1956 Karl Saunders Santa Barbara City 1957 William C. McDade Santa Monica 1958 George S. Figley Los Angeles County 1959 Robert H. Beech Montebelo 1960 Leslie L. McCloud Monrovia 1961 Fred C. Hardesty Los Angeles County 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 William I. J. Coulter Ira A. Anderson William R. Tripp James M. Hamaek Russ Granger Sam Tanksley Charles Anderson Paul Wohlers Bernard Dicker Gaford Medley Richard Pfeiffer Robert Richter Jean F. Slaughter Angelo Minchella Joseph Warren Bill Tomes Walley Trotter Joseph Warren Jim Timmons El Segundo El Segundo Rialto San Gabriel Whittier Los Angeles County Buena Park Santa Monica Los Angeles County Pasadena Inglewood Los Angeles City Pasadena Santa Ana La Habra San Diego Orange County La Habra Torrance 1981 Don Oaks (FPO Prez in 1981) retired from Santa Barbara County Fire in 2001, completing 39 years in the fire service (13 years with the City of El Segundo). During the last 15 years of his career he divided his energy between fire marshalling for the County, and wildland fire fighting as Plans Section Chief and Information Officer of a USFS incident command team. (con't) Don Oaks Santa Barbara County In the mid 70’s he created the Fire Protection Plan and subsequently brought about it’s inclusion in the Uniform Fire Code, Art. 86, ICC’s UWIC, and more recently, the California Building (Chapt. 7a) and Fire Codes. In the early 80’s he, according to industry critics, adopted the most restrictive sprinkler ordinance in the U.S. for an unincorporated area. He still plays with fire by co-chairing our WUI committee. 1982 Robert Miller San Diego 1983 Albert (Bud) Moody Brea 1984 Mikel Parks San Bernardino City 1985 Lynne Michaelis Fountain Valley 1986 Denny Haas Torrance Fire Department 1987 Homer Miller Los Angeles City 1988 Joseph Piscioneri Ontario 1989 Ted Wackerman Oceanside Our good friend and comrade passed away in December 2006 1990 Oystein (Sam) Husoe Long Beach 1991 Eileen Salmon Hawthorne 1992 Allen Thomason San Diego 1993 Dennis Stangeland Los Angeles County 1994 Carl Thibeault Palm Springs 1995 Michael T. Bennet Santa Barbara County 1996 Dennis Lockard Newport Beach 1997 Carolyse Pfeiffer-Acedo Redondo Beach 1998 Bruce Kerl La Mesa 1999 Sheri Benge Anaheim 2000 Steve Locati Rancho Cucamonga 2001 Scott Corrin UC Riverside 2002 Tom Oakes Orange County Fire Authority 2003 Penni Overstreet-Murphy San Bernardino County 2004 Laura Blaul Orange County Fire Authority 2005 Karyn Vaudreuil Carlsbad 2006 Ken Quick Culver City 2007 Hank Teran Long Beach 2007 and 2008 Ken Kraus Los Angeles City

Year President Jurisdiction 1953 Jim Sweeney Oakland 1954-55 Rod Barth Stockton 1956-57 Babe Wade Redding 1958-59 Al Hanson Berkeley 1960 John Reynolds Monterey 1961 Chief DePauli began his career in the fire service as a volunteer with the Grass Valley Fire Dept. in 1948. After 5 years with Grass Valley, a dream came true. He was able to combine his hobby with a career. On June 1, 1953, Matt DePauli was hired as a firefighter by the Arcade Fire Dept. During his career he advanced through the ranks with his area of expertise and specialization being the Fire Prevention Bureau. A high priority for the fire safety of citizens within his district was a prime force within his career. Chief DePauli was involved in the formation of the Northern California Fire Prevention Officers Association and served as president. A major undertaking was the formation of the Uniform Fire Codes in conjunction with the Southern Section. This was an achievement he was proud to have been part of. The Chief had a relentless interest in the Fire Service and worked endlessly to pursue its improvement. As with the era of his tenure, he followed legislation that would affect his district and department. (con't) Matt Depauli Arcade (con't) Through his many associations with fire service organizations, he worked for improvements. It was a direct result of his actions that a rent free lease was secured for Station 4. He played a major role in the formation of the Joint Powers Communication. Chief DePauli was a staunch member and supporter of the California Fire Chief's Association, California Arson Investigator's, the International Fire Chief's Association, Sacramento Valley Fire Chief's Association,, Sacramento County Fire Chief's Association, Sacramento/Yolo Fire Prevention Officers Association and the Arcade Firemen's Association. 1962 Herb Scales Monterey 1963 Bruce Wiggins Santa Clara County 1964 Pat Parker Arden 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 Gene Nunes Dan Hollywood Les Johnson John Gearhart Nick Arhontes Gene Borden Lonnie Johnson Jes Rodgers Emmet Condon Oakland Menlo Park Salinas San Jose Hayward Campbell Florin Santa Clara San Francisco 1975 Joined the Napa Fire Dept. in 1962, was assigned as engineer after a few shifts,became shift inspector/investigator in 1965, promoted to FM/DC in 1968,served 17 years in that capacity, 1985 served as intrem fire chief and than assumed DC in charge of special operations overseeing training, developing a haz mat team and designing,overseeing construction and completion of fire station # 3, retired in 1988. Over the 17 years spent as FM/DC we had very aggressive fire prevention program including the engine companies which inspected every occupancy except 1&2 family dwellings along with the training division were able to meet ISO criteria for a class 2 fire dept. Developed a fire investigation unit that included the district attorney's office and all local fire and law enforcement agencies in the county that was very efficient in determing cause and origin and prosecution as required.Because of all the activity noted above we were able to expand the division to include FM/DC,3 captains,1 inspector,3 shift inspectors,hazard control officer and a part time secretary for a city of 50,000 population. Of the many codes and ordinances I proposed for adoption, I was most proud of a fire sprinkler in the late 70's that far more restrictive than the building code for commercial occupancies which was adopted by the city council on a 5/0 vote. Jim Luce Napa The ordinance opened the door for fire sprinklering of multi family and single occupancies in late 80's.Over the years I was fortunate to serve as president of several fire and law enforcement associarions but none so special as the NDFire prevention officer's in 1975.My 20 plus years with the NDFPO's assoc. was very rewarding as I had a chance to serve on or chair several committees covering a wide range of subjects. I took on the task of rewriting the cal chief's Inspector's guide had it printed and delivered to the fpo's for sale and distribution which help provide income for the many of fpo's activities. The final honor in my career was receiving my good friend, Charles Gray Memorial award, for contribution to the cal chiets and ndfpo's. It was my good fortune to work with hundreds of dedicated fire officials throughout the state of california and beyond. Retirement finds me enjoying activities with the family,motorhome travel & touring in my restored vehicles & other tasks as directed by my wife!!! 1976 Sal Leonardi Campbell 1977 Charlie began his career with the Fremont Fire Department in the early 1960's. He later moved on to become the Fire Marshal for the Santa Rosa Fire Department. Unfortunately, Charlie passed away in 1985. (con't) Charlie Gray Santa Rosa (con't) Chief Gray contributed his time and talents to the betterment of the Association by promoting fire and life safety through code development processes and throughout the community. As a tribute to his dedicated service, the Charles H. Gray Memorial Fund Service Award and Scholarship program was established. 1978 Jim McLaughlin Palo Alto 1979 Al Forbes Monterey 1980 Jon Buchanan Sacramento County 1981 Ken Mazza San Rafael 1982 Jim McLaughlin Palo Alto 1983 Steve Hart Monterey 1984 Hank Schmidt So. Co. Fire Authority 1985 Bill Greene UC Davis 1986 Ted Camicia CorteMadera 1987 Darrell Harguth Contra Costa County 1988 Dave Milanese Foster City 1989 Robert Kinney Vallejo 1990 Keith Schoenthal San Rafael 1991 Larry Larson UC Davis 1992 Larry Agee Chico 1993 Tom Elliot Novato Tom joined the Daily City FD in 1964 as a volunteer. In 1965 he joined the Pacifica FD as a Fire Fighter. He joined the Novato Fire District in 1976 as a Fire Inspector. He remained with Novato until his retirement in 1998 as Division Chief/Fire Marshal. Sept. 2008: Tom still occassionally attends Nor Cal FPO meetings 1994 Mike Argo Contra Costa Co. 1995 Eduardo Saiz Daly City 1996 Fort Hartsfield San Ramon Valley 1997 Tonya Hoover UC Berkeley Orinda-Moraga FD 2008-SFM Office, Asst. State Fire Marshal 1998 Rick Rodewald Monterey 1999 Larry Monette Santa Clara 2000 Rick Terry San Ramon Valley 2001 Danielle Stefani Livermore/Pleasanton 2002 Forrest Craig Novato 2003 Mike Stewart Sac Metro Fire District 2004 Weston Arvin UC Davis 2005 Dennis Mathisen Roseville 2006 Angela Giuliani Santa Clara 2007 Darren Drake Napa 2008 Morgana Yahnke Fairfield

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