Here are the top priorities of the 4 finalist Columbia Fire Chiefs

Lina Portman4 weeks ago

1 4 minutes read

In a few weeks, Columbia will have a new fire chief. Before one of the four finalists was selected, they all had the chance to meet the public Thursday at Columbia City Hall.

A more definitive timeline was not available from the city for the new chief's announcement. Unlike previous national searches for a leadership position in the city, the work was done in-house rather than bringing in an outside consultant, said Kathy Baker, Columbia's human resources director.

The city needs a new fire chief after Clayton Farr Jr. retired after 18 months. In the search that ultimately led to Farr's selection, the city brought in an outside consultant, Strategic Government Resources, at a cost of approximately $18,627.

The four finalists in the city's current search for a new chief are Columbia Deputy Fire Chief John Ambra; Columbia Deputy Fire Chief Jeffrey Heidenreich; Chuck Doss, clinical lead for prehospital services at the University of Missouri; and Spokane, Wash., Deputy Fire Chief Brian Schaeffer.

In its recent history, the city has tended to turn to internal candidates despite the arrival of external candidates. This included the Chief of the Columbia Police Department, the Chief of the Columbia Fire Department, the Public Works Director, the IT Director, an Assistant City Manager (prior to November 2023), the Parks and Recreation Director, and the Director human resources. The trend still follows that of Matt Unrein, who, while recruited externally for the assistant city manager position in February, was elevated to assistant city manager in April.

It's unclear which fire chief candidate is favored, but those are their priorities if selected.

Jean Ambra

Ambra is a 20-year veteran of the Columbia Fire Department. His goal is to keep the lines of communication open with all department personnel, including those who are members of the Columbia Firefighters Union.

“They want to be heard and informed when we make big decisions,” he said. “I want to keep them informed. I've done a good job and I'm accessible.”

Ambra considers Columbia his home and mentioned that he could see himself in the lead role for five, ten years, or even longer.

He would like to see an expansion of the department's training division “to learn more about the business” of firefighting, Ambra said. He also celebrated the department's recent reaccreditation and noted that Station 10, on the city's east side, is on track to still be open by the end of the year.

Jeffrey Heidenreich

Heidenreich said his long-term goal is to become fire chief. It started back in high school, when he was part of an explorer program, he added. If chosen, he wants to serve in the position as long as possible, he said.

“My career has no end date. It is unlimited,” Heidenreich said. “I have 23 years in the fire service, 16 of which have been in Columbia. I graduated from Rock Bridge in 2001, Mizzou in 2005, and Columbia College in 2015 with my (Master of Business Administration) and This was while I was working for the department.”

Much of the department's work is well done, he said, pointing to global accreditation. This is not to say that there are not opportunities for improvement.

Through the accreditation, “we received 15 policy recommendations and we need to implement them. This is a public document and I would look forward to discussing it further,” Heidenreich said. He also wants to follow through on the department's strategic plan and increase public education on fire prevention, community risk reduction, code enforcement and more.

Chuck Doss

Doss has experience with the Columbia Fire Department, but doesn't yet know all the ins and outs of its operations. So that’s what he wants to look at if he’s chosen as leader.

“I'm the hybrid candidate. I've been in the system a long time and worked alongside the men and women of the fire service for a long time, but I also always bring the outside perspective from other agencies and other experiences .that I had,” he said. “I want to go in there, learn a lot and build on the successes of previous bosses.”

It also places importance on training and education, as well as recruitment and retention.

Doss, like other candidates, considers Columbia his home, and while he works for University Hospital, he also has 28 years of experience in fire and emergency medical services.

Brian Schaeffer

The only candidate from further afield is Schaeffer, a native of Spokane, Washington. He does, however, have connections, family and friends in Mid-Missouri, which sparked his interest in working in Columbia.

“I went to school at the University of Central Missouri and the University of Missouri Kansas City. I've always had a connection to the region as a whole and to Columbia. This Midwest region is truly my house,” he said. “The community is on the brink of something incredible and I would love to be a part of it.”

He highlighted a unique approach to fire services that he might like to see adopted in Colombia, if selected: an AI-based fire response analysis program, known as Darkhorse Emergency , who was adopted in Spokane.

“It's a deployment tool that allows you to pull in data from previous years. … This is response time data,” Schaeffer said, adding that this includes where where the staff went, how long it took to get there and what happened there. . “What the AI will do is take that into account and take information similar to what you have with Waze – all the traffic patterns – and make predictions based on future changes.”

However, its initial focus is recruitment, retention, training and resource management, he said.

Previously:Here are the 4 finalists for Columbia Fire Chief — and when you can meet them

Charles Dunlap covers local government, community stories and other general topics for the Tribune. You can reach him at [email protected] or @CD_CDT on X, formerly Twitter. Subscribe to support vital local journalism.

Lina Portman

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