Temecula Mayor Mike Naggar together with CAL FIRE/Riverside County Fire Chief Shawn Newman welcome Jodie Gray as newly appointed Fire Chief for the City of Temecula.
Mayor Naggar states, “Chief Gray is committed to providing the highest level of fire protection to Temecula citizens and businesses.” Naggar added, “She has 28 years of exemplary fire service and experience that I’m confident will be an asset to our Fire Department.”
Chief Gray started her fire service career in 1991 as a volunteer firefighter at Home Gardens Fire Station 13 in Corona. CAL FIRE hired Gray as a Firefighter I in 1993 at Perris Station 1, and she has since been promoted several times throughout CAL FIRE in Riverside and San Bernardino Counties. In 1994, she became Firefighter II for the Riverside unit assigned to the engine and truck company in the Cove Communities, and was promoted again in 1996 to Fire Apparatus Engineer for the Lake Elsinore Battalion where she worked schedule A and Schedule B. In 2003, she accepted a Limited Term Fire Captain position in the San Bernardino Unit, at the Highland Station, Schedule B and soon after accepted a permanent Fire Captain position at Lake Hills Station 82 in Riverside. Gray transferred to the Perris Emergency Command Center for 4 years before serving the Temecula community from 2010 to 2013 as a Fire Captain assigned to Station 84 on Pauba Road. In 2013, she promoted to Battalion Chief for the City of La Quinta and then transferred in 2015 to the San Jacinto Battalion, where she also managed the County Hazardous Material Team Program. While managing the program she obtained her Hazmat Technician Certification. Throughout her career, she has worked on fire assignments throughout the State and in Southern Region as Expanded Dispatch Supervisor. In December 2017, she promoted to Division Chief assigned to the Strategic Planning Bureau.
In February 2019, after an extensive and competitive process, Chief Gray was appointed as Fire Chief for the City of Temecula. “I am honored and excited to be back in Temecula,” stated Gray. Chief Gray and her family reside in the Temecula Valley.