The four men vying to become Aurora’s next fire chief met with community members on Thursday evening and spoke about how they would steer the department through numerous challenges facing the city.

The finalists are Richard Davis, assistant chief of the fire department in Austin, Texas; Alec Oughton, fire chief of the Henrico County, Va. Division of Fire; Allen Robnett, interim fire chief of Aurora Fire Rescue; and, Froilan “Pepper” Valdez, fire chief of the fire department in Billings, Mont.

The sole finalist will lead a department employing 450 sworn personnel and 18.5 civilian employees.

Former fire chief Fernando Gray, who served Aurora Fire Rescue for five years, left in July for a new role with the Las Vegas fire department. During Gray’s time helming the department, Aurora was thrust into the national spotlight as protests took place across the country, bringing heightened attention to the 2019 death of Elijah McClain.

McClain died after Aurora police placed him in a carotid hold and paramedics injected him with a dose of ketamine too great for his body weight. The officers and paramedics involved are facing criminal charges, a point of contention within the city, and they are scheduled for an arraignment hearing later this month.

The fire department, along with the city’s police department, also became subject to a five-year consent decree that requires numerous public safety reforms. The city stopped its use of ketamine, and city council has recently debated banning the use of new sedatives, as well as chemical restraints.

Aurora announced Robnett as is interim fire chief in July as the hunt for Gray’s successor got underway. The process comprised a national search that generated 36 applicants. The city hired recruiting firm CPS HR Consulting to conduct the search “with a focus on recruiting a diverse pool of applicants,” according to a city news release, then used a community panel and city management panel to determine finalists.

The finalists are in the midst of a two-day selection process this week.

City Manager Jim Twombly will next select the sole finalist, who must receive approval from a majority of city council. Twombly’s decision is expected in late January or early February after the city analyzes community feedback, conducts a background investigation into Twombly’s pick and finalizes negotiations.

Davis

Davis sees the job as an opportunity to help build the department, he said, adding he has experience working under a consent decree. Davis also touted his recruiting abilities, saying he brings a proven track record helping his current department recruit and diversify.

Diversity is not built overnight but is important to building community trust, he said. He would approach recruiting by introducing the profession to candidates by giving them a real taste of the job, he said. Davis helped revive a program in Austin that provided people interested in the profession with firefighter training. The initiative helped recruit 35 people of diverse backgrounds to the department in the past few years, he said.

The Aurora department needs to have a greater involvement in recruitment and a new approach to its application process, which he called impersonal, Davis added. 

To address city growth, Davis would aim to have a seat at the table as the city plans for new residents, while also seeking to understand new hazards and demographics changes that come with growth, he said.

In regard to chemical restraints, Davis said a patient must be assessed first, paramedics must evaluate if a patient can consent, and constantly monitor a patient if they do receive medication.

Oughton

With 27 years in the fire service, Oughton said he isn’t ready to retire. He also wasn’t looking for a new job until this position opened, he said.

Past trips, including previous visits to the South Metro Fire Rescue department, reinforced his love for the West and his interest in the job, he added.

There are also similarities between his department in Henrico County and Aurora Fire Rescue, which gives him a needed familiarity with running a metro fire department, he said.

Oughton sees four key issues as the biggest challenges for the city’s fire agency: internal morale, city growth, recruitment and diversity, and examining the agency’s emergency medical services model. All are issues he’s experienced working with, he said.

His 13-year-old daughter has a difficult time picturing herself in his profession because it is a male-dominated field, Oughton said. Recruiting diversity workforces will require “bridge building” with potential hires and different communities, he said. The department needs to be more involved in recruitment, he added.

“It’s really about creating a culture of inclusion,” he said.

Oughton said his first assessment in addressing the use of chemical restraints would be to learn about Aurora’s specific policies and insurance programs. EMS use of sedatives should follow physician guidance, he said.

“I think there needs to be very detailed protocols,” he said.

Robnett

Robnett isn’t just keeping the seat warm for the next chief, he said. The interim chief decided several years ago he wanted to lead the Aurora Fire Department, where he has worked for 33 years. The department is filled with great people, comprising a great organization that he has invested a lot of time into, Robnett said.

The agency’s challenges include renewing the department’s transport contract and deciding what paramedic transportation will look like, he said, which will require an RFP process. Keeping morale up is another, and the city’s growth is complicated because it requires a different solution in existing parts of the city than on its expanding perimeter, he said.

Robnett vowed to address generational distrust within the community as he works to diversify the department. That will require sending recruiters to work with candidates one-on-one, he said.

“We’ve tried many things over the years with very limited success, so we have to keep tweaking the program,” he said.

While a medical director sets protocols for using chemical sedatives, not the department, Robnett said there are situations where they are needed. His first focus, however, would be training personnel to de-escalate a situation so that a sedative is not needed, he said. 

Valdez

There are plenty of similarities between the Billings and Aurora fire departments that helped attract Valdez to the job, he said.

Another allure is the fast-paced growth of Aurora, he said.

“I would love to be a part of that growth,” he said.

Valdez would look at the department’s operations to see if “we truly have enough resources to properly serve the community,” he said. He also knows Aurora to be a very engaged community where diversity is a priority.

To recruit a diverse department, Valdez would prioritize rebooting a program that helped the department get into schools and educate students about the profession. He hopes to engage students starting in middle school all the way through college, he said.

Chemical restraints are warranted in some situations but require significant training and education before paramedics can properly use them, he said. There is risk involved in their use, and accidents do happen, he said.

If he is selected chief, Valdez said Aurora would be getting a “hardworking and passionate individual” who cares deeply about his community. He takes a collaborative approach to the job and does not micromanage, he said. Valdez would not swoop in to make major changes immediately, he said, and would first learn more about the organization, which he called highly trained.

“There is always room for improvement,” he said.