Huntington Beach fire chief to retire in November

One of the work mantras Huntington Beach Fire Chief Patrick McIntosh lives by is to leave a place better than you found it.

After about six years with the city and 36 years in fire service, McIntosh believes he has done that with the Huntington Beach Fire Department. He quietly announced this month that he will retire Nov. 20.

“Patrick is leaving the department in good shape,” City Manager Fred Wilson wrote in an email. “He was a consummate professional and a great leader for the Fire Department.”

McIntosh, who turned 57 Tuesday, took the helm in January 2010. He replaced Duane Olson, who retired after 39 years with Huntington Beach.

“You always think about retirement as you get older,” McIntosh said. “I started thinking about it over the last few months. I looked at all the pieces to the puzzle, soul-searched and talked with my wife and kids. I think now’s the time.”

Before serving in Huntington Beach, he was a deputy chief with the Orange County Fire Authority, where he began in 1982. He started his career in his hometown, with the San Gabriel Fire Department, in 1979.

McIntosh, who now lives in Laguna Niguel, joined Huntington during the economic downturn that began in 2008. Like other city department heads, he had to make difficult budget cuts and lost staff to attrition.

“We were going through significant reductions, and we still have a bunch of vacant, unfunded positions, primarily in fire administration,” he said. “My priority as the fire chief was to make the cuts and the reductions while maintaining the service to the community.”

Though many administrative positions were lost, McIntosh was able to staff the city’s eight fire stations. Since then, he has maintained about 200 sworn fire and Marine Safety Division employees.

“It’s not all rosy out there in the world, but we got through those really difficult last six years [and] now have a great organization that provides great service,” McIntosh said “As I leave and look back, I think I can say that I’m leaving the Fire Department better and I’m leaving the community better served and better protected.”

The chief added an ambulance, for a total of five, and helped implement a GPS system that dispatches the closest fire units to a call.

McIntosh said he always loved the idea of public service. His father was a police officer, his mother was in the Marines, his brother is a doctor and his sister is a nurse.

“Someone had to be the firefighter, right?” he quipped. “Maybe it’s my upbringing, but I’ve always had a passion for helping others.”