By Shane Dixon Kavanaugh
oregonlive.com
PORTLAND, Ore. — Lauren Johnson, an assistant fire chief in Dallas, Texas, who has spent her entire 26-year career with the department, has been tapped to become Portland’s next fire chief.
Bob Cozzie, deputy city administrator for public safety, broke the news to staff in an email Wednesday.
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Johnson had been one of two finalists to emerge after the city launched a national search to succeed Fire Chief Ryan Gillespie, who retired this spring.
She is just the third chief to be selected outside of Portland Fire & Rescue — and will be only the third woman to lead the bureau.
Johnson’s first day will be Aug. 18, according to city officials. She will earn an annual salary of $239,512.
The announcement comes a week after Portland’s first choice for the job, a former Oakland, California, fire chief now working as a private contractor in Saudi Arabia, abruptly turned down the offer he had accepted last month.
“It is truly an honor to be named the next chief of Portland Fire & Rescue,” Johnson said in a statement provided by the city Wednesday. “I’m eager to collaborate with the dedicated team of city staff and elected officials who are passionate about shaping the future of public safety in Portland.”
The city’s Fire Bureau currently has a staff of about 750 employees and an annual budget of nearly $200 million. It’s also struggled with a host of longstanding challenges.
In recent years, its workforce of firefighters and other emergency first responders were stretched precariously thin amid the pandemic, racial justice protests, wildfires and a deepening homelessness crisis.
In 2022, the city auditor’s office found that the predominantly white and male composition of the Fire Bureau had created an insular culture that “allows some employees to behave unprofessionally in the workplace.”
Portland Fire & Rescue has also struggled with a surge in overtime spending due to a variety of factors. Among them: chronic understaffing that predates the pandemic; a 2019 union contract that allowed rank-and-file firefighters to have a shorter work week and more vacation leave; and a dramatic increase in emergency calls for service.
The ongoing staffing shortages continue to strain both the bureau’s budget as well as firefighter morale, according to officials and rank-and-file staff.
Johnson joined the Dallas Fire-Rescue Department in 1999 after graduating from Trinity University in San Antonio with a degree in sociology.
She worked her way up the ranks to become deputy chief in 2017 and was promoted to assistant chief six years later.
“Chief Johnson is a dedicated public servant with a stellar background and vision for our city,” said AJ Jackson, who has served as Portland’s interim fire chief since March. “We’re very excited to see her take the lead of our organization.”
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