The Seminole County Fire Department recently held a Command Staff Promotional Pinning Ceremony for the following personnel, which included the swearing in ceremony of Seminole County Fire Department Chief Matt Kinley:

-Matt Kinley, Seminole County Fire Chief

-John Thibert, Deputy Chief Administration

-Ben DeCuir, Deputy Chief Operations

-Christina Diaz, Assistant Chief/Fire Marshal

-Jason Prather, Assistant Chief Special Operations

-Gregory Harlow, Assistant Chief Professional Standards

-Jolene Joyce, Assistant Chief “A” Shift

-Tod Zellers, Battalion Chief “B” Shift

-Jason Moore, Battalion Chief Professional Standards



The ceremony was also attended by all of Seminole County Fire Department’s five past five Chiefs:

Fire Chief Otto Drozd III: 2020 – 2021
Fire Chief Mark Oakes: 2015 – 2020
Fire Chief Leeanna Mims: 2005 – 2015
Fire Chief Terry L. Schenk: 1993 – 2005
Founding Fire Chief Gary Kaiser: 1974 – 1993

“I am proud to be among those pinned, and honored and humbled to be appointed to serve as your Seminole County Department Fire Chief,” said Seminole County Fire Department Chief Matt Kinley. “But I am even prouder of the fact that we have a strong bench of talented and loyal personnel who are being pinned and are stepping up to serve in new leadership roles. These key Command Staff promotions represent the time, talent and effort of all of those who have come before us. They have taught us, invested in us and supported us.”

“When we founded the Seminole County Fire Department in 1974,” said Founding Fire Chief Gary Kaiser. “We had 57 total personnel and had nine fire stations, half of them were in trailers … one was even a rented two-bedroom apartment. Now we have 20 stations and upwards of 500 personnel. It’s amazing to see this growth and have witnessed the talent that has been developed at this Department.”