Former Houston Fire Chief Chris Connealy recently accepted the position of chief of the Cedar Park (Texas) Fire Department, serving a small but growing community in Texas "Hill Country."

Former Houston Fire Chief Chris Connealy accepted the position of chief of the Cedar Park (Texas) Fire Department on March 1. Located in Texas “Hill Country” bordering Northwest Austin, CPFD protects more just over 52,000 people with 54 employees. It has three stations and a fourth was just approved, Connealy said.

Compared to Houston, which employs more than 3,400 firefighters, it’s a much smaller department, but Cedar Park is the fourth-fastest growing small city in the United States and the second fastest growing city in Texas, Connealy notes.

“While this is a major change from being fire chief of Houston, I am enjoying this transition,” he said. “The firefighters are so hungry to learn and are some of the most professional that I have ever met in my 26-year career. While the Houston Fire Department will always have a special place in my heart, I am ready to move forward.”

The last 25 years of Connealy’s fire service career had been with the Houston Fire Department. He was appointed Houston’s assistant chief in June 1998, interim chief in Oct. 2000 and fire chief in May 2001.

“Seeing the writing on the wall,” Connealy said he decided to retire from his position in Houston in January as new mayor Bill White began his term.

Houston’s political situation makes life difficult for the fire chief, said Connealy. Houston mayors have term limits of three two-year terms. “Basically, the whole political system changes every six years,” he said. “The fire chief has always been replaced with every new mayor.”

Connealy himself was the seventh chief HFD had during his 25-year career there. The political change every six years doesn’t allow for stability in the fire department, and chiefs find it difficult to implement long-term change, he said.

Another casualty of the political situation has been staffing and firefighter salary. Houston’s Local 341 firefighters have been working without a contract since June 2000, when their last contract expired after bitter and fruitless negotiations.  Staffing in the department deteriorated until 80% of the department’s apparatus were operating understaffed until October 2001, when the city approved overtime funding to get apparatus fully staffed by November that year.

(For more details on Houston’s political issues and the department’s accomplishments despite them, see “Houston, We Had a Problem,” the October 2003 FIRE CHIEF cover story.)

Conneal said he is very proud of the many accomplishments by the members of HFD during his tenure. “I wish the former problem of staffing and lack of a contract for firefighters could have been resolved sooner. Unfortunately, the fire chief does not have the power to write multimillion dollar checks without elected officials' approval. Nevertheless, much was accomplished in a very difficult budget environment. The professionalism of HFD was raised significantly and the many changes implemented related to firefighter safety are worthy advances. I wish the next fire chief and HFD all the best to further advance the organization. The citizens of Houston and HFD members deserve nothing less.”

Houston’s mayor has not yet named a new fire chief.

Meanwhile, Connealy is optimistic about putting Cedar Park Fire Department “on the map” as an example of a fire department where positive change and progressiveness are at home.
 
 “I did not come to Cedar Park to retire,” he said.