Jeremi Roesler takes over as Julian fire chief Friday, succeeding five-year Chief Rick Marinelli and inheriting a firestorm.
A battalion chief with Cal Fire’s Hemet-area Battalion 5, Roesler will be dealing with lawsuits, complaints of Brown Act violations, expected protests at the Julian fire station on state Route 79 and an angry citizenry that has petitioned twice to keep its last-in-the-county volunteer force.
Plus an Indian claim to fire station land.
In April, the Julian-Cuyamaca Fire Protection District board voted to begin the process of dissolution — turning its property and staff over to the San Diego County Fire Authority and Cal Fire’s San Diego Unit. Both are led by Chief Tony Mecham.