The city of El Mirage named Assistant Fire Chief Chris Richardson as Interim Fire Chief following the departure of Chris DeChant.

Mr. Richardson has 26 years of emergency medical experience as a firefighter, officer and paramedic including 22 of those years in El Mirage.

“I appreciate Chief Richardson’s willingness to serve in this important leadership position in our City,” said El Mirage City Manager Crystal Dyches. “The City will conduct a formal search to fill the position in the near term.”

Mr. DeChant served as the fire chief since June 2018 and has 25 years of leadership experience from public safety associations in Arizona. He resigned from the city to accept a position with the Arizona Fire & Medical Authority.

Mr. DeChant pointed to several successful programs and initiatives during his tenure with the city including: providing a second fully- staffed fire engine and increased customer service for emergency response; enhanced data management and reporting of response times; several training and fire prevention programs such as “Stop the Bleed” training for the Police Department and Continuous Quality Improvement review for all emergency medical responses.

“On behalf of the City, I thank Chief DeChant for his professional service to our community,” said El Mirage Mayor Alexis Hermosillo. “Public safety is our top priority for our citizens, businesses and visitors. We are very grateful to Chief De-Chant for his leadership these past two years and wish him well in his professional endeavors.”

Mr. Richardson was the first paramedic that was sponsored by the El Mirage Fire Department, according to his city profile. He is currently pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Fire Administration with an emphasis in Arson Investigations from Columbia Southern University.