by John McGuire
Photos provided by David Kean
Casa Grande Fire Chief Dave Kean grew up around his grandfather’s fire station in Long Beach and served for 32 years in the same department, retiring as the assistant fire chief of operations. In 2016 he was hired on to the same position at the Casa Grande Fire Department and was promoted to chief in 2020.
All told, he has served as a firefighter, fire inspector, arson/explosives investigator, fire captain, operations battalion chief, assistant fire chief and chief. He is the president of the Fire Chiefs Association of Pinal County.
Kean is a graduate of the National Fire Academy’s Executive Fire Officer Program and has a chief fire officer designation through the CFAI (Commission on Fire Accreditation). He attended the prestigious Senior Executives in State and Local Government certificate program at Harvard Kennedy School of Government in 2014. He earned a bachelor’s degree in education and a master’s degree in public administration (MPA) from Cal-State University at Long Beach.
He is a military combat veteran, having served in the United States Army Reserve for 27 years — he held the rank of chief warrant officer 4 and was a helicopter and fixed-wing pilot. He fought in the war on terror with three deployments to Southwest Asia, was awarded two Air Medals and the Meritorious Service Medal. He has two daughters, Jenna and Ashlee, and his brother, Jeff Work, is a fire engineer with the Colorado Springs Fire Department.
Golden Corridor LIVING: We’re happy to have you here. Let’s get started and talk a little bit about your background. Where were you born? Where’d you grow up? What was your childhood like?
Dave Kean: I was born in Long Beach, California, in the early ‘60s. My maternal grandfather was a Long Beach fireman, and he also founded the Long Beach Fireman’s Credit Union. My mom worked at the credit union, my aunt worked at the credit union, and he managed the credit union on the days when he wasn’t working at the fire station. My brother’s and my entire life revolved around the fire station. The credit union was in one of the fire stations in downtown Long Beach.
And my grandfather was very interested in the history of the fire department. He wrote a book about it, and whenever the Department was going to throw something away, he’d always save two or three of the items instead of tossing them, until he had a giant warehouse full of stuff, which he eventually turned into the Long Beach Firefighters Museum, probably one of the best fire museums on the West Coast. (www.lbfdmuseum.org) Our biological father left pretty early in life, so we were raised by my mom and my grandparents, and we spent a lot of time at the fire department.
I went through all the schools in Long Beach. Being raised by a single mom, we struggled and we moved a lot. I think we lived 10 or 11 places during our childhood. We lived in Long Beach because that’s where my grandmother and grandfather were, they were our child care and spent a lot of time with us when my mom was at work. When I was about 12, my mom remarried and we moved to Washington, D.C.
Golden Corridor LIVING: At some point you ended up going into the military. Was this right out of high school?
Dave Kean: No, I had been one of those people who watched Emergency religiously every week. Since I had been exposed to the fire department so early in my life, it was really all I wanted to do. I was a Fire Explorer, I did all that stuff, and I took my EMT class when I was still in high school. I took the fire test at 19 and I ended up being hired at 20 years old, which is really unusual for Long Beach.
The first station I went to in the early ‘80s, everybody that worked there except for one guy was a Vietnam vet, and they used to talk about their stories and the camaraderie and all the things they enjoyed about being in the military. And it kind of made me feel bad. My step Dad, my step-grandfather and my real grandfather both were in the Army and my maternal grandfather was a pilot in the Army. And then the exposure to those guys at the station like that, it really made me feel like I should have done some sort of military service.
Golden Corridor LIVING: So it sounds like you had a pretty interesting early life and then you went into the military. How many years did you do in the military?
Dave Kean: It is kind of funny because that was also the time that Top Gun came out and my grandfather had been a pilot, so I was like, “I should be a pilot.” I ended up taking a leave of absence from the fire department to go to Officers Candidate School and flight school. And then when I came back, I was a pilot in the Army Reserve, but I still worked for the fire department. I ended up staying in the Army for 27 years.
Golden Corridor LIVING: Did you do much overseas?
Dave Kean: I did three tours overseas during my time. I was in Iraq when the war first started with the 4th Infantry Division. The first time I went, a guy that I worked with was in charge of a public affairs unit that would go out and do surveys and stuff out in the community.
And he found out that I was there and he knew that I was a firefighter. He had me go out and do evaluations of the fire service in Iraq and what they needed to bring it back up to snuff and what they could do to inject money back into the economy.
Golden Corridor LIVING: I know that in Long Beach, L.A. County Fire does most of the air support for different aspects of fire service. So, you never got to take your pilot training back into the Long Beach fire service side?
Dave Kean: No, and I had thoughts of doing that. When I retired I was thinking about working somewhere as a pilot, but I ended up having a medical issue that disqualified me from flight at that point, which was disappointing because that’s what I had been building all those hours to do when I retired.
Golden Corridor LIVING: Which brings us to our next question, how did you get from Long Beach Fire and what was your final rank at Long Beach?
Dave Kean: I was assistant chief there, in the operations bureau.
Golden Corridor LIVING: And then somehow you got to Casa Grande, which sounds like a little bit of a change to your initial secondary career path.
Dave Kean: I was in my early 50s and both of my daughters played highly competitive softball. One of them got a scholarship to the University of Arizona to play for Mike Candrea. I came out here with her a few times on visits and trips, and I was talking to somebody down there and they said, “Oh, I think Casa Grande Fire Department has an opening.” I had been retired for two or three weeks and I was going crazy. I couldn’t fly so that was driving me crazy and I didn’t really know what to do.
And it was one of these things where the only thing I’m really good at and that I’ve done for a really long time is be a fire chief. I figured I was going to be out here a lot for her games. So I applied and lo and behold, I got the job as the assistant chief here at Casa Grande Fire Department.
Golden Corridor LIVING: And your focus during that time, you spent a lot of time bringing the fire department back into the emergency medical services side of things. The City, at that particular time, was having difficulties with AMR, the private emergency medical services provider that we still have at some level, and you took the mantle to bring EMS back into the fire department, which is the way a lot of California agencies do it.
Dave Kean: I just didn’t feel it was the best thing for our citizens. The fire department is a taxpayer drain. We don’t go out and write traffic tickets and we don’t fine people. And when you do fire-based EMS, that does give you the ability to start bringing money back, which I felt very strongly that money should come back and help improve the fire department and the care for our citizens here in Casa Grande.
Golden Corridor LIVING: And we’re still to this day working on that; the final approvals did come from the council about a year ago, and you’ve been working with all the regulatory agencies. Where does that stand now?
Dave Kean: It was kind of a two-fold problem. The EMS problem and the other problem was infrastructure because the Casa Grande fire stations were wholly inadequate. And very quickly after I became fire chief, I condemned Station 503 because of termites, rats, holes in the floor, just all kinds of issues that were unacceptable. You wouldn’t want anybody, even somebody you don’t like, working in this building. It was terrible.
But right now we have three of the four ambulances in service. Our issue has been where to put them. We will have a fourth one in service in December, but we’re working through where we’re going to put that apparatus and house those firefighters who are going to man them. AMR only comes now to the calls that we request them to come to.
Golden Corridor LIVING: And how many people do you manage now? What is your staffing level?
Dave Kean: When I first took over, we were in the high 50s, like 58 to 60. We’re at 105 now. That includes civilian staff and our civilian dispatchers. That was another thing I felt was lacking and wasn’t good, the management of the communication center, and I had experience doing that in California. We took over communications and managed police and fire communications.
Golden Corridor LIVING: And then we are currently building a new fire station that you’re very proud of, and it looks like it’s going to be a great addition to the city. Where exactly are we today on that? What do you anticipate for an opening date?
Dave Kean: Well, that’s where I just came from. So I’ll say this, that we anticipated opening that station at the end of November, first of December. The bureaucratic paperwork and procedures of going through the various utilities, Arizona Water, the gas company, APS in particular, and the big one’s ADOT, it’s horrendous.
Golden Corridor LIVING: You’re still working through that?
Dave Kean: We are. And actually it is a little frustrating for me because the station’s going to be built right on schedule. I’m going to have a fire station sitting there that has water, but you can’t go take a bath or wash your hands because I don’t have any sewage, because of an issue with CenturyLink. And the fence won’t be finished because I can’t put the fence up because that’s where the sewer is going to be. It’s been a real nightmare. We’re working through those problems. I anticipate we’re going to get them done, I’m hopeful now that it’s going to be December, first part of January.
Golden Corridor LIVING: And that will house the people who are currently sharing a station and give much better response times to certain parts of the city?
Dave Kean: It will. And then also, one of the things that was approved in my budget this year was I added a fifth company. So we will have a full-time ladder truck at this point. Currently, we have what’s called a swing company, whichever one’s needed, they jump back and forth. Now we’ll have a full-time ladder company that will be in service at that station, so there’ll be 10 people assigned to that station.
Golden Corridor LIVING: Now that we’re getting the prior historical problems sort of taken care of between EMS and infrastructure, there’s still more to do, right? Fire Station 501, which is 50 years old, needs to be replaced. What are your hopes for that? I know that the council’s considering lots of options, but what do you hope you get for the new replacement of the downtown station?
Dave Kean: Well, that’s one of my goals. When I took the job and I looked at all the different things, I really felt like I want to leave this place better than when I found it. And I think we’re already well underway on that because we now have established the fire-based EMS, but some of our stations are very inadequate.
501 and 502 need to be replaced. There’s no room for expansion, there’s no room for ambulances. 501 has a lot of issues with the construction of the building. One of the other issues is gender accommodation. We had two female firefighters when I got here, and we have I think eight or nine now. And our stations are not adequate for female firefighters. They need showers and bathrooms and all that. And I’m trying to get all stuff up to snuff, but 501 is the big priority right now.
Golden Corridor LIVING: It seems to me the council is supportive. It’s just a matter of working out the exact details, which can be very frustrating at times.
Dave Kean: One of the biggest things that I’ve had trouble adjusting to a little bit here in Casa Grande is the wheels move, but they move really slowly here. I suggested tearing down the auditorium and putting the fire station there several years ago, and I thought there was pretty good support for it. Come to find out, without going into a whole lot of detail, somebody else suggested that they wanted their building at that particular location.
Golden Corridor LIVING: And I’m sure it was quite a disappointment for you that when the bond election in 2022, which included a lot of new fire department infrastructure, did not pass.
Dave Kean: Absolutely. It was crushing. There were so many things about it that I didn’t like. I thought it was worded very horribly on the ballot. I was disappointed that there was another fire-type measure on the ballot at the same time. I would’ve probably handled the campaign for that a little differently, but that’s out of my hands.
Fire stations are a little bit different. We’re not putting the fire station in a certain location because the view’s good, we’re putting fire stations in a location where it’s strategically placed to provide the most benefit to our citizens, where it can handle calls the most efficiently and get there on time.
One of the other suggestions was putting it across the street in Peart Park. I never would want to take up park land to build a fire station.
Golden Corridor LIVING: If you had to guess today, when would you expect that a new 501 will be placed and completed somewhere? Three years?
Dave Kean: Three years probably is about right. I mean, I have the money. I have half the money this year in my budget to start the planning and the blueprints. But you can’t do that until you know a location. And I am hopeful the new council will make some decisions on the campus.
Golden Corridor LIVING: So let’s assume we get all that and all this historical stuff finally caught up a little bit. Ten years from now, where do you think Station 505 will be? It’ll be the east side somewhere?
Dave Kean: Probably 60% to 65% of our calls are in what I call the Florence Corridor, which is essentially from Cottonwood Lane to Jimmie Kerr Boulevard, east to west in the city limits. That doesn’t discount that I need a 503 and a 504 up to the north because the other 35% are up there. And again, we have got to put the fire stations where strategically they can provide the best coverage. We also have to provide coverage on the I-10 and all the way out at Francisco Grande.
The next engine company that I’m going to ask for this Fiscal year, I would put right at Station 501. It would be a sister engine at 501. And depending on what’s happening and when we start on Station 502, the next one, or even that one may go to 502 because it’s as busy or maybe slightly busier than 501 at this point. And 502’s area is not going to get any slower. I mean, you’re aware of what’s going on with rooftops and the construction in the southeast part of the city. Everybody always talks about the west side. Southeast is getting ready to explode with houses and rooftops and buildings.
Golden Corridor LIVING: No question. So again, I want to make sure we talk about a couple of your personal goals and how they relate to the city. What’s your hope now for yourself? How many more years do you think you want to be a chief here, and what’s your transition plan?
Dave Kean: I don’t know. I am at the point in my life where I’m still really having fun doing this. I feel like I’m doing good things for people, and I feel like I’m doing great things for the City, and that’s what I want to do.
Those are my goals and what I want to accomplish. At the point where I feel like I’m not doing that, then I’m probably going to look to retire.
