New Fire Chief Is Facing Some Hot Spots

Charles “Chip” Prather has battled house fires, tended accident victims, served as incident commander during the disastrous 1993 Laguna Beach fire. He has faced threats from wild land blazes and toxic explosions.

His new job behind a desk could be his biggest challenge yet.

Prather, 44, was selected this month from among two dozen applicants to head the Orange County Fire Authority, formed in 1995 from the Orange County Fire Department and 19 city fire departments.

He replaces Larry Holms, who had served as the county department’s only chief since its creation in 1980. Holms retired in April.

Prather’s selection comes at a critical time for the authority, formed in the months after the county’s 1994 bankruptcy. More than 100 firefighters recently engaged in a sickout to protest stalled labor negotiations between the firefighters’ union and management.

A controversial equity study due in March will address payments the cities make and services they receive.

Added to the mix is dealing with the authority’s admittedly unwieldy 21-member board of directors--with 21 alternates and 19 city managers to brief.

Prather admits that “it’s been a little rocky” since the authority was formed. But he said he’s optimistic about the authority’s future and his ability to fit in as the new chief.

“This has been a goal I’ve had for a long, long time,” he said. “I think there’s a transition to be expected with any big change. Of course, we would have planned it differently [without the bankruptcy], but there’s a learning curve that goes on with everyone. I think we’re moving out of the transition stage. I intend to take us out of the doldrums onto the next level.”

Among Prather’s first official duties was meeting last week with the Orange County Professional Fire Fighters Assn., which has yet to agree to a contract after more than two years. Working under an imposed salary resolution, firefighters in recent months began a series of public protests, including picketing on Labor Day at Anaheim Stadium.

That action led to the authority’s cancellation of popular open houses this month at fire stations after officials worried that firefighters might use the events to push their salary demands. In protest of the cancellations, the sickout followed.

Prather said his goal is to get a contract signed with the union, though he declined to provide details or predict the odds of success.

“We’re going to do everything we can to resolve it,” he said during an interview from the authority’s tree-shaded headquarters in Orange. “We’re going to break it down and see if we can all win something out of it. The key people who are losing [by continued labor unrest] are the firefighters and our communities.”

Union Vice President Rick Van Auken praised Prather as a good person who was seen for years as “our great hope” in leadership. He was someone who, in firefighter lingo, had “pulled hose,” who understood the day-to-day job demands of firefighting. He also has been a paramedic--a key distinction for a fire service in which 60% of the calls are for medical aid and 10% for actual fires.

“We’ve had a lot of hope that he’d be the kind of fire chief we need, but our organization is such a huge, dysfunctional mess, the task may be greater than he’s up to,” Van Auken said. “I have my doubts that he can convince the Fire Authority board to do the right thing. He’s been part of the executive management team responsible for making things worse and worse.”

Authority spokesman Capt. Scott Brown said Prather is respected by the board and comes with the advantage of having bested well-qualified applicants from fire departments elsewhere.

“The fact he’s come up through the ranks and understands what we’re all about is very important,” Brown said. “He’s a man of integrity, high ethical standards and honesty. He represents a new breed of fire chief in terms of things like customer service and a collaborative spirit.”

Prather said he intends to meet with every board member, alternate and city manager in the coming weeks to talk about their visions for the authority. He talked of creating more of a team spirit among cities the authority serves and of “setting a collective vision” among a disparate group of elected officials who admittedly see the world through their own city needs.

“We want to get engaged in our communities, so we’re not a visitor, so to speak,” he said. “We have an opportunity as a new organization to re-engineer ourselves, retool ourselves in the way we go about our business.”

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Profile: Charles “Chip” Prather

Age: 44

Birthplace: Virginia

Residence: San Clemente

Family: Wife, Katie; daughter, Mackenzie, 10; son, Charlie, 8

Education: Bachelor’s degree in management, University of Redlands; completed two programs at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government; National Fire Academy’s four-year upper-management development program

Background: Moved to Orange County in 1974 as a firefighter with the California Department of Forestry. Joined Orange County Fire Department at its inception in 1980. Has served in every fire rank and capacity. Father and grandfather were fire chiefs.

Quote: “There are people who work here who have grabbed me by the jacket and pulled me out of [burning] buildings when I was a rookie firefighter. I have a deep attachment because of that. Their expectations for me aren’t nearly as high as what I have for myself.”

Source: Charles Prather; Researched by JEAN PASCO / For The Times