ANAHEIM : Captain Becomes 1st Black Battalion Chief

Jerry Austin never thought about becoming a firefighter until one day about 20 years ago when a high school clerk said he would make a good one.

“I thought to myself, ‘I can’t be a fireman,’ ” Austin said, recalling that day at Valley High School in Santa Ana. “I’ve never seen a black fireman.”

And through 19 years of working his way up the Anaheim Fire Department’s ranks, he had never seen a black battalion chief from Orange County--until he looked in the mirror Friday morning.

Austin, who was the department’s first African American, was promoted Friday to battalion chief, the Fire Department’s second highest rank. He is the first African American in county history to achieve that rank. His promotion ceremony will be held Friday.

“I have always said I’m going to be a fire chief, so this is the next step up,” said Austin, 39. There are 10 battalion chiefs in Anaheim and Austin is one of six assigned to fire suppression. Two of the six are on duty at all times. Each supervises half of the city and takes command at the scene of large fires or incidents in his area.

“I have never set out to get recognition as the first black anything,” Austin said. “But I made a decision a long time ago that I was going to get myself into a position to make things better for the black and minority firefighters coming up behind me. I want other black and minority firefighters to see what they can accomplish if they are dedicated and responsible.”

According to the International Assn. of Black Professional Firefighters in Washington, about 8% of the nation’s firefighters are African American, but less than 1% of the battalion chiefs are black. And there are only 37 black fire chiefs, the association said. Nationally, 12% of the population is African American. In Orange County and Anaheim, that figure is 2%.

“The fire service has historically not embraced African Americans as part of its force,” said Romeo O. Spaulding, the association’s president. “It wasn’t until the late 1950s that most fire departments began to desegregate and it wasn’t until the late 1960s and early 1970s before departments actually began to hire African Americans in numbers. And in many departments, it takes 20 years” to work up to battalion chief.

Austin said that when he started in Anaheim in 1974, a handful of people made it clear they didn’t like him because of his race. He said a battalion chief told him once, “As long as I’m around, you’ll never get promoted.”

“There were some days when I didn’t want to come to work,” he said. “I never went public with the problems. I didn’t want to be a whiner. I figured out ways to diffuse the problems without alarming anyone. . . . But I never said anybody has to like me. I just want them to respect me.”

But through the years, Austin got promotions. He has been a fire inspector, arson investigator, public education officer, fire marshal, engineer and, since 1986, a captain in the 210-member department. For the past five years, he has led a hazardous materials crew.

He also volunteers to organize the department’s Christmas toy and food drives, directs a nonprofit day-care center and is active in a program that recruits minority and female firefighters. Last year, he won the county fire association’s Msgr. John Sammon Award for his charity work.