Changing of the fire chiefs in Newport

What does a new fire chief need to know?

For Newport Beach Fire Chief Tim Riley, who will retire next week after 15 years with the department, the answers weren’t on the long list of things he had planned to go over with his successor, Steve Lewis. So he decided to throw the list out.

Instead, in the final days before Riley retires and Lewis is sworn in Nov. 27, the two men have been taking problems as they come and paying visits to not just the city’s eight fire stations, but to the archipelago of distinct neighborhoods that make up Newport Beach.

When they toured Bay Island, Lewis found himself with one very important question, at least for a fire chief.

The island has no road. It’s only accessible by a footbridge. A fire truck can’t drive onto it. So how do you put out a fire there?

“That was the one issue that I had there: How were we going to get water?” Lewis said.

The answer, as Riley explained, is a standpipe system on the mainland that feeds hydrants on the island. Firefighters also keep caches of equipment on the island so they don’t have to try to carry everything there on foot in an emergency.

Lewis is also learning that Lido Isle has narrow streets that can be a tight squeeze for large fire vehicles, and that the marshy Back Bay presents its own challenges for emergency access. There’s no book to explain these things, and Riley found it was even hard to put them on a list.

“It really isn’t about going and looking at the fire stations,” Riley said. “He can do that any time. Really more important is for us to get out in the community so he can look at what the community issues are.”

Lewis, 54, will be the sixth full-time fire chief in the department’s history, which goes back to 1927. His last job was as a deputy fire chief in Long Beach, so he knows firsthand about boating, lifeguards and other marine issues in a coastal city.

After a career in fire service that began when he was 20, Riley plans to retire.

When he became chief as a young man, Riley attained legendary status in the area’s firefighting community, Lewis said.

Now, as a mentor, Riley is “one of those living treasures,” Lewis said. “He knows everything about Newport, so I’m trying to pick his brain as much as I can.”

Riley’s bosses, so to speak, on the City Council credit the longtime chief with bringing the most modern equipment and methods to the department, and with representing his employees and the department well.

“The fire department, without fail, I think, is second to none both in personnel and equipment,” said Councilman Tod Ridgeway, who this month finishes out eight years on the council.

Mayor Don Webb, who worked with Riley as a city employee and a councilman, said Riley has improved the morale in the department and has been active in the community also.

“Every time some charitable group wants to put something together, it seems like he’s involved with it,” Webb said.

In fact, community groups were one category on Riley’s original to-do list for Lewis. And plenty more was on the list: key city personnel to meet, Fire Department programs to discuss, policies to revise, and places to visit.

The two chiefs have managed to cover many of those things, and Lewis already has made some decisions. The broad knowledge Riley is sharing will help his successor deal with an array of issues — the completion of the fire station in Santa Ana Heights and its new training tower, whether to raise the incredibly low ceiling of the truck bay at the Mariners fire station, and how to manage a youthful staff so those employees can carry the department into the future.

For Riley, the personnel has been one of the big changes over the years. When he started his career, the work force included the World War II generation and people born in the Depression era, and they had a different perspective on their jobs and how they contributed to society.

Today’s employees are more concerned about finding personal career fulfillment, Riley said. “We have to learn to be different to keep up with them,” he said.

Lewis will help make that transition. He plans to stay with Newport for at least five years, and it may be longer before he thinks about retirement.

His last job prepared him for this one — his boss mentored him in managing budgets, personnel and even harbor patrol operations.*

“The buck stops with me,” Lewis said. “In the past I had a chief over me, but I was making a lot of solo decisions already.”

Riley said he’ll miss leading the Newport Beach Fire Department. He’s helped it grow, with two stations added during his tenure, and he’s tried to get his employees to understand and demonstrate the motto emblazoned on the sides of fire department vehicles: “Safety, service, professionalism.”

Finally, he’s trying to communicate 15 years of knowledge to Lewis during the two weeks they’re both with the department.

It seems to have sunk in. Lewis said working with Riley has been invaluable. “I cannot imagine walking in your first day and taking over an organization such as this without any background,” Lewis said.

But Lewis also may have occasion to remember another little fire chief’s secret to handling a crisis.

Opening a drawer at his desk, Riley joked, “Most important, I showed him where the Tylenol is.”