Names in the News: April 16, 2023

SCOTT GOLDSTEIN will retire from the Montgomery County (MD) Fire and Rescue Department (MCFRD) after 33 years of service to become the new chief of Cowlitz 2 Fire & Rescue (C2FR) in Kelso, Washington. Goldstein had been serving as the MCFRD’s chief for the past eight years. He began his fire career with the Kensington Volunteer Fire Department in 1987, joining the MCFRD in 1990 and working his way up the ranks to become chief in January 2015. His final day with the MCFRD will be June 30, and he will begin his tenure as is C2FR chief on July 17, 2023.

SCOTT SUSI was announced as the new fire and EMS chief of the Sanford (ME) Fire Department on March 21. Susi arrives in Sanford after serving the past two decades with the Caribou (ME) Fire & Ambulance Department (CFAD), where he has been chief since 2012. After serving in the Maine Army National Guard, he worked as an operating room first assistant at Cary Medical Center. In 2003, Susi became a volunteer firefighter and paramedic while earning his paramedicine degree at Northern Maine Community College. He then joined the CFAD in 2005. In 2017, Susi was named Fire Chief of the Year by the Maine Fire Chiefs Association.

BILLY FLOYD was sworn in as the new chief of North Myrtle Beach (SC) Fire Rescue (NMBFR) on April 14. Floyd started his career as a volunteer firefighter in Marion County, South Carolina, before working full-time for the city of Mullins, South Carolina. He arrived at the NMBFR in 2005, working there for three years before moving on to Horry County (SC) Fire Rescue. Floyd returned to NMBFR in 2013. He has served a total of 13 years with NMBFR as a firefighter/EMT, lieutenant, captain, and division chief, and had been in the rank of deputy chief since May 2021.

FRED “JOHN” KNOWLES will take over as the new chief of the Walla Walla (WA) Fire Department (WWFD) on April 24. He will replace outgoing WWFD chief Bob Yancey, who is retiring. Knowles, a Walla Walla native, began his career with the WWFD in 1992 as a student firefighter. Over the following 31 years, he has moved up through the ranks to become a firefighter (1994-1999); an engineer (1999-2005); a lieutenant (2005-2015); a training captain (2015-2021); and, most recently, as deputy chief.

PAUL ALVARADO was named the new chief of the Palm Springs (CA) Fire Department. He is expected to assume command of the department in early May. Alvarado began working as a firefighter and paramedic in Long Beach, California, in 1996 before becoming the Long Beach Fire Department’s assistant chief in 2018. He also worked as a firefighter for the North Las Vegas (NV) Fire Department and Northrop Aircraft Division. Alvarado also served as the fire chief for the Port of Long Beach and was the liaison to the Long Beach Airport.