Eric Nickel, who has 31 years of service as a professional firefighter, was sworn in as chief of the Santa Barbara City Fire Department Tuesday afternoon.
For the past six years, Nickel has led Palo Alto’s fire department, which covers the city and Stanford University. He worked at the Novato Fire Protection District in Marin County before that.
He has worked for six fire departments in Southern and Northern California, all communities with wildland urban interface risks, according to city staff. Nickel also is one of 39 fire chiefs in California history to be designated as a certified fire chief through the State of California State Board of Fire Services.
Santa Barbara City Fire Department Operations Division Chief Lee Waldron has been acting chief since Pat McElroy retired in March.
The badge-pinning and swearing-in ceremony held at Fire Station No. 1 at 121 West Carrillo St. drew more than 50 people, including Nickel’s wife, family members, friends, and fire and law enforcement officials.