City Manager Roubik Golanian has appointed former Glendale Fire Chief Gregory Fish to lead the department on an acting basis after placing the current chief, Timothy Ernst, on administrative leave effective Oct. 27 due to “a confidential personnel matter.”
This comes just over a year after Ernst was sworn in as fire chief on Sept. 29, 2022.
Fish, who served in the Glendale Fire Department from 1987 until 2018, assumed command of the department as of Wednesday. He retired from serving as the fire chief of the Carpinteria-Summerland Fire District on Sept. 30.
During his 31-year Glendale career, Fish worked his way up the ranks from firefighter to captain to battalion chief to deputy chief before rising to fire chief in 2015. Highly respected among firefighters at all ranks, Fish was the assistant administrator at the Fire Academy and adjunct faculty member at Glendale Community College from 1999 to 2007. He is a past recipient of the Distinguished Service award for his dedication and contributions to the department.
Fish earned a master’s degree in public sector management and leadership, with distinction, from California State University, Northridge, and a bachelor’s degree in organizational leadership from Woodbury University in Burbank.
“I am confident Greg will work collaboratively to guide the department in the interim and ensure Fire Department command staff, firefighters and other personnel can continue to deliver vital public safety services to the community,” Golanian said.
First published in the November 4 print issue of the Glendale News-Press.
