After serving the Santa Maria Fire Department as several ranks of chief for nearly 15 years, Fire Chief Dan Orr gave the city his resignation after accepting a post with the Clallam County Fire District in Washington state, Orr told the Sun via email.
“My wife and I started having these discussions several months ago,” he wrote. “I honestly did not think it was going to happen this fast.”
The new position will be at a change of pace for Orr, who has led the Santa Maria Fire Department as fire chief since December of 2011. The area is quite rural, Orr explained, and has a population nowhere near to the Santa Maria Valley’s.
Orr began his work as a paid call firefighter in Pismo Beach, serving there for 12 years and rising in rank throughout that time. He came to Santa Maria in 2011 to work as fire operations division chief and later became fire battalion chief before being promoted to fire chief.
“I have been very fortunate to have been involved in all facets of the department during my time here,” he said. “The most important lesson I learned is the importance of relationships. If you have strong relationships built on respect and trust, you can accomplish amazing things.”
Among the relationship-building achievements Orr is most proud of, he cited the SMFD’s Listos program, a volunteer program that provides outreach to the Spanish-speaking community with all the information they need to be “listos,” or “ready,” in Spanish. Orr is also well known for collaboration with local nonprofits and the faith community.
Police Chief Ralph Martin told the Sun via email that Chief Orr was one of the first city employees to reach out to him when he arrived in Santa Maria. He also explained that Orr was “instrumental” in helping form the Incident Command System, a collaborative program between the SMPD and SMFD.
“He was always available for public meetings and reached out to all segments of the community,” Martin said. “I will miss our working relationship, but I plan on staying in contact with him.”
This article appears in Oct 29 – Nov 4, 2015.