Doug Lannon retires after 37 year career

CAL FIRE San Bernardino Unit Assistant Chief Doug Lannon has called it a career after nearly 38 years in the fire service. Chief Lannon started his fire fighting career on June 21, 1973. In 1973, the Vietnam war was nearly over, ABBA, the Moody Blues, and the Eagles were rocking the radio, gas cost 40 cents a gallon, and the average cost of a new house was $32,500.00. My how things have changed...


Chief Lannon began as a seasonal firefighter then promoted to what is now the Firefighter 2 position in 1975. Lannon spent much of his early firefighting career in the Central Coast region of California, promoting to Fire Apparatus Engineer in 1977.

In 1984, Chief Lannon was promoted to Captain and began his tenure in the San Bernardino Unit. He worked at several stations and the Training Bureau until his promotion in 1993 to Battalion Chief for Fire Prevention. In June, 2009, Lannon accepted his final promotion to Assistant Chief, first taking over the Owens Valley Conservation Camp then transferring to the Pilot Rock Conservation Camp.

During his career, he spent 16 years as a Lead Information Officer on CAL FIRE Incident Command Teams. He also co-developed a news media specific fire safety training program that he has helped to teach to every major news organization in the Los Angeles news market. The class has also been used by others in CAL FIRE throughout the state. He has been a part of the statewide and Southern California cadres for S-403 (Type 1 Information Officer Class). During his more than ten years on the cadre, Chief Lannon has helped to teach nearly 1,000 fire service professionals how to be competent Information Officers.

Chief Lannon's final day was December 30, 2010 and he said "I have certainly enjoyed my time in this organization and I have been privileged to work with absolutely the best Fire Control, Law Enforcement, Resources Protection, and All Risk Emergency professionals in the world. I am extremely proud of that!"