Santa Maria has a new deputy fire chief after 10 years

SANTA MARIA, Calif. - After more than ten years without one, the city of Santa Maria hired a new deputy fire chief.

Todd Tuggle started with the fire department on February 3.

Measure U opened up funding for the position, along with funding for 17 new firefighters.

Deputy Chief Tuggle will manage internal operations at the department. He will supervise the battalion chiefs and manage maintenance of the fleet.

Deputy Chief Tuggle said he and Fire Chief Leonard Champion already have many goals for 2020.

"The biggest one for 2020 is opening Engine 1, so we'll have Engine 1 and Truck 1 operating out of the station," said Deputy Chief Tuggle. "That will coincide with the completion of a fire academy with 17 recruits today."

Those recruits have already started a 12 week training academy.

Deputy Chief Tuggle says Santa Maria is extremely busy for the size of the department.

They receive about ten thousand calls a year for five companies.

Tuggle said he is very thankful for all of the community support the fire department has received, and that the extra company will help to even out the calls handled between companies.