VENTURA : Fire Chief to Leave for Job in Bay Area

Ventura Fire Chief Vern Hamilton announced Tuesday that he has accepted a job as fire chief for the city of Milpitas in Northern California.

Hamilton, who has been fire chief in Ventura for a little more than three years, begins the new job April 4. He wants to move because he and his wife Pat miss the Bay Area.

“I want to go back home,” Hamilton said. “I think I underestimated the impact of being so far away from my lifelong friends.”

Assistant Fire Chief Ken Hess will be made acting fire chief until Hamilton’s position is filled.

Hamilton, 46, was raised in Oakland and began his career in firefighting at the Watsonville Fire Department. He was Watsonville’s fire chief from 1971 to 1984. He then moved to Napa’s Fire Department, where he served as fire chief from 1984 to 1991.

Hamilton moved in 1991 from Napa to Ventura, where he heads a department of about 75 firefighters. His base salary is $88,703.

In Milpitas, which has a population of about 51,000, Hamilton will begin at $101,520 and head a 65-member department. Hamilton will replace retiring Milpitas Fire Chief Mike Harwood.

Milpitas officials said they picked Hamilton from 90 applicants after a four-month nationwide search.