Napa County has made another investment in wildfire resiliency by hiring the first Napa County Fire Administrator: David Shew. In this role, he will act as a liaison between Cal Fire and the County. His long and varied fire career, much of which was here in Napa County, makes David Shew an excellent fit for this role. Read more about him and his new position here.
“Collectively as a county, we can all provide a much safer environment for people to live and move through these trying times, with wildfire getting worse,” Shew said on Tuesday.
The county still contracts with Cal Fire to run its fire department. Cal Fire employees Michael Marcucci is still fire chief and Jason Martin is still deputy fire chief.
Shew will be a liaison between the county and Cal Fire. He will oversee the spending of a $37.5 million federal grant for fire prevention that Napa County expects to secure. He will help the county put into action its new fire master plan.
He arrives at a time when the Board of Supervisors is exploring what the county fire department of the future will look like. He arrives in the wake of massive 2017 and 2020 wildfires that burned an area equal to about half the county, putting fire prevention in the spotlight.
Additionally, JR Rogers is leaving his role as station lead for the Angwin Fire Department to serve as project manager in support of the Fire Administrator. We look forward to working with both in our shared goals of increasing communication and continuing progress toward a wildfire resilient Napa County.