By Kathleen Wilson
The Ventura County Star
Deputy Chief Mark Lorenzen was named the next chief of the Ventura County Fire Department on Tuesday in a unanimous vote by the county board of supervisors.
Lorenzen, 48, of Santa Barbara, takes over Friday from Bob Roper, who is retiring after leading the department for 15 years.
“It is with great honor that I accept your offer,” Lorenzen told supervisors after they emerged from a closed-door personnel discussion to announce the selection.
Lorenzen was the second-highest-ranking person in the Fire Department before his promotion. He was selected over two assistant chiefs and a division chief who applied for the job with a top base salary in the mid-$190,000 range.
“It was a tough choice, but Mark stood out, and we look forward to working with him,” Supervisor Peter Foy said.
Supervisor Kathy Long said the board was looking for someone who could lead the department at a time when its traditional mission is changing. Although fire calls still take most of the agency’s time, 80 percent of calls are for emergency medical assistance.
Lorenzen is a certified public accountant who decided to change careers 21 years ago. He made the switch because he didn’t want to spend the rest of his life sitting in an office, he said.
He started as a firefighter in the early 1990s at the Avenue station in the Ventura area and was promoted to captain in less than four years.
He also has been battalion chief and division chief, jobs that included responsibility for multiple fire stations, labor negotiations, recruitment and disciplinary actions.
He has worked around the county during his career, serving at stations in Newbury Park, the Upper Ojai, Camarillo and Port Hueneme.
Lorenzen was named deputy fire chief in 2010.
In the post, he is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the department and reports directly to Roper.
Lorenzen was the only one of the four candidates who waited in the boardroom as supervisors deliberated. While he might have had an edge because of his position, he had not been tipped that he was going to get the job, he said.
“I’ve just decided to be an optimist,” he said as he waited in his black dress uniform.
The Fire Department employs 580 people, has a budget of $135 million and operates 31 fire stations. It is a special district funded with its own share of local property taxes. The agency provides fire protection in the unincorporated county as well as the cities of Thousand Oaks, Simi Valley, Moorpark, Camarillo, Port Hueneme and Ojai.
Lorenzen holds a bachelor’s degree in business economics from UC Santa Barbara and a master’s degree in public administration from CSU Dominguez Hills. He still holds a CPA license and has an accounting firm specializing in tax and accounting issues related to firefighters, labor organizations and charities.
In his current job and his new one, Lorenzen can be fired without cause. He does not have a contract.
Roper, 56, of Ojai, is running for the Ventura-based seat on the Board of Supervisors in the June 5 primary. He worked in the Fire Department for 32 years, and his successor plans to stay almost that long: Lorenzen said he intended to work as chief for 10 years and then retire, ending his career after 31 years.
He called his wife, Nancy, an elementary school principal in Santa Barbara, as she was boarding a plane. She had time to get the call before the door closed.
The couple have three children: Kirsten, 23; Megan, 21; and Will, 17.
Lorenzen was the second highest ranking person in the Fire Department before his promotion .
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