After a brief stop in the Golden State, Jeff Piechura said he’s excited about having the opportunity of coming home to Arizona.
It was announced this week that Piechura has been hired as the Sedona Fire District’s new assistant chief — the first person to hold that position since Terry Keller left in 2013.
“I’m excited — this is a great opportunity for me,” he said. “I look forward to helping Chief [Kris] Kazian work toward his goal of excellence for the department.”
After receiving almost 50 applications, and undertaking an extensive testing process that lasted over three days, Piechura was chosen. An Arizona native, he comes to SFD after 36 years in the fire service — 33 of which in Arizona, mostly as fire chief of Northwest Fire District. He also served from 2012 to 2015 as the fire chief in Stockton, Calif. In the year since he said he did some much-needed traveling with his wife and also did consulting work.
Kazian said they had seven highly-qualified candidates participate in their extensive hiring process.
“Any of them would have been great for SFD,” he said. “The fact that Jeff aced the process and there was an overwhelming unanimous support for him and his leadership style. I believe will greatly enhance our ability to lead SFD and serve our community into the future. I am happy for this addition to our team and think the future just got a little brighter for all of us.”
Piechura has bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Arizona State University in Fire Service Management and Administration, respectively. His career accomplishments include being past president of Arizona Fire Chiefs Association, Arizona Fire Chief of the Year 2005, vice president of the board of directors of the Center for Public Safety Excellence, as well as 2015 inductee into the Arizona Fire Service Hall of Fame.
Piechura said one of the reasons he applied for the job was that SFD and its employees “have served the communities with honor, distinction, and a drive toward excellence.”
“I am honored and humbled to have been selected to assist this great organization in continuing the service and protection for the residents, businesses and the millions of visitors sharing in all that this wonderful community has to offer,” he said. “I look forward to getting out into the community to meet and visit.”
Piechura, who starts on Monday, March 7, will oversee the day-to-day operations of the station, firefighters and paramedics. He will also head a program that targets future leaders within SFD and will serve as a mentor.
