The San Antonio Fire Department officially named a new chief on Thursday. Deputy Chief and 24-year SAFD veteran Valerie Frausto is scheduled to assume the department’s top position beginning Nov. 1. She is the first woman to lead SAFD.
That’s pending City Council approval, which is slated for next Thursday, Oct. 31.
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Frausto was selected from more than 65 other applicants during a nationwide search, according to San Antonio City Manager Erik Walsh.
Frausto will lead the department’s nearly 2,000 employees.
Frausto “emerged as the ideal candidate due to her exceptional leadership of all aspects of the Fire Department and her undying commitment to serving the community in which she was born and raised,” Walsh said in a statement.
Frausto joined the SAFD in August 2000 and has served jobs in frontline firefighting as well as administrative leadership.
“In each position Chief Frausto has held with SAFD, she has developed and implemented positive change, instilled new operational strategies and streamlined processes,” said Walsh.
Frausto has served in the interim chief position since January following the retirement of longtime former Chief Charles Hood.
During her time with SAFD, Frausto launched her Hero Like Her recruiting campaign. This campaign helps breaks the barrier that sometimes stop young women from pursuing careers in typically male-dominated careers.
SAFD controversies
The chief position has been involved in multiple controversies in the last year.
Hood, the department’s first African American chief, told KSAT’s Steve Spriester in an exclusive interview in February that he forced to retire after what the city manager described as an “inappropriate and offensive comment.”
After that, as city leaders were searching for a new fire chief, Chris Steele, a former fire union president, was arrested on felony stalking charges. He allegedly attempted to scare Frausto out of applying for the role.
The San Antonio Professional Firefighters Association President, Joe Jones, released the following statement following Frausto’s appointment:
“We are pleased to finally have a Fire Chief in place for our San Antonio Firefighters and Paramedics. To clean up Mr. Hood’s mess it will take talent, dedication, strategy, intelligence, compassion, and determination. Chief Frausto is well known for possessing all of these attributes and more. We look forward to the possibilities her appointment brings for our community, our department, and our members,” Jones said.
“I am confident that Valerie will enhance the professional development, mentorship, and succession programs within the Department to continue to cultivate top talent in the department,” Walsh said.
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