Phoenix Fire Department Asst. Chief Bob Khan has been tapped as the successor to fire service icon Chief Alan Brunacini, who will be retiring June 30. Khan will become the department’s first new fire chief in 28 years.

Brunacini will retire after a career spanning nearly five decades — all spent with the Phoenix department — where he held the positions of firefighter, engineer, captain, battalion chief and assistant chief prior to being promoted to fire chief in 1978.

Khan, a member of the department since 1982, currently is assigned as assistant chief of the administration division, where he manages the department’s public information activities and serves as liaison to the Phoenix City Council.