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Dammeron Valley Fire Special Service District appoints new Fire Chief as Chief Hennessey retires

Dammeron Valley, UT – November 22, 2024 - The Dammeron Valley Fire Special Service District (DVFSSD) Board voted at its November meeting to hire Chris Rieffer as the new Fire Chief of Dammeron Valley Fire & Rescue (DVFR). Chief Rieffer will replace current Fire Chief, John Hennessey, who notified the Board in May of his planned retirement at the end of 2024. The transition will take place at the Board’s final meeting of 2024 on 19 December.

 

DVFR’s third professional Fire Chief brings more than 30 years of professional firefighting and fire service leadership experience to the department. Most recently, he served as Fire Chief for the Cedar Mountain Fire Protection District in Utah until his retirement in 2022. Chief Rieffer spent more than 20 with Las Vegas Fire & Rescue in Nevada, including as Acting Battalion Chief and Fire Captain. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Fire Service Administration from Liberty University.

 

“I’m honored to join an agency that has built a reputation across Utah and beyond for professionalism, innovation, and a culture of change,” stated Chief Rieffer. “What Chief Hennessey, his leadership team, and his members have accomplished over three years is truly remarkable, and I look forward to building upon the legacy of progress to continue to improve DVFR’s response for the residents and visitors in rural Washington County.”

 

Chief Rieffer will assume command of a department that has grown significantly in operational and response capabilities since the transformation began in September 2020. Chief Hennessey joined DVFR as Deputy Chief in January 2021 and was sworn in as Fire Chief on March 17, 2022, taking over from Chief Chet Barnes who was the first professional Fire Chief for the District. In his nearly three years in command, Chief Hennessey has led the department through a series of changes that built a mission-ready fire and rescue organization serving residents and visitors of rural Washington County over a 110 square-mile area.

 

Under Chief Hennessey’s leadership, DVFR transitioned from an all-volunteer agency to a combination department with round-the-clock staffing utilizing part-time members. The department also advanced its medical response capabilities from Basic to Advanced Emergency Medical Technicians and it is pursuing Paramedic designation for the first time. Additionally, DVFR’s Wildland Fire Program was established to deploy nationally to gain wildfire experience to benefit the department’s capability, generate operational revenue for the department as part of the strategy to modernize antiquated apparatus and equipment, and create the first deployable Rapid Extraction Module Support (REMS) team in Utah.

 

Training is the cornerstone of Chief Hennessey’s strategy for building and maintaining a mission-ready department, and DVFR’s Fire & EMS Training Center grew exponentially since its inception. More than 100 Candidates from Washington, Kane, and Iron counties have been successfully trained and evaluated through the DVFR Fire Academy to the Utah Fire & Rescue Academy (UFRA) standards for Firefighter 1 and 2. DVFR’s EMT Basic and EMT Advanced Academies have provided state-of-the-art certification training to Candidates from across the region.

 

“There comes a time in every organization that new intellectual capital, innovative thinking, and new thought leadership are required to ensure continued progress. DVFR’s members’ dedication, hard work, and commitment to core values have resulted in spectacular results and have transformed the fire and medical response along the SR-18 corridor, and I am proud to have been a part of that,” shared Chief Hennessey. “Chief Rieffer’s assumption of command will represent another smooth and uneventful leadership transition at DVFR, and that’s the way it should be.”

 

Chief Rieffer will spend the next month meeting with his leadership team and members before his swearing-in ceremony on 19 December. DVFR and the DVFSSD Board invite the public to attend the ceremony to welcome Chief Rieffer. “On behalf of the entire DVFSSD Board, we thank Chief Hennessey for his dedicated service and the immeasurable impact he has made on DVFR and the communities we serve,” stated DVFSS Board Chair, Ryan Andersen. “We look forward to the next phase of DVFR’s evolution, and we’re confident Chief Rieffer will build upon the department’s successes to provide a best-in-class response for our service area.”


Media Contact:

 

Hunter Wolfe

Public Information Officer

Dammeron Valley Fire & Rescue

+1-435-574-8102

 

About Dammeron Valley Fire & Rescue (DVFR)

 

Dammeron Valley Fire & Rescue is a combination department that provides structural and wildland fire prevention and protection services to the residents of Dammeron Valley, Utah. Additionally, the department provides Emergency Medical Services to a 110 square mile area of rural Washington County, Utah. The department operates under the charter of the Dammeron Valley Fire Special Service District. For information, please visit www.dvfirerescue.org and www.dvfrssd.org.

 

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