NAPA, CA—The Napa County Board of Supervisors and CAL FIRE Sonoma-Lake-Napa Unit are pleased to announce that Jason Martin, a longtime local fire chief, has been appointed as Napa County’s Fire Chief effective October 1, following a competitive selection process.
Chief Martin’s appointment comes with a promotion to Deputy Chief of CAL FIRE’s Sonoma-Lake-Napa Unit. Through the cooperative fire protection agreement with CAL FIRE, the Napa County Fire Department consists of seven career stations, nine volunteer fire stations, four Battalion Chiefs, 50 full-time firefighters, 46 seasonal firefighters, 200 volunteer firefighters, the Fire Marshal’s Office, and numerous support staff. Chief Martin is currently the Napa County Fire Department’s Assistant Fire Chief and has been serving as acting Fire Chief, after former Chief Geoff Belyea accepted a position with American Canyon Fire Protection District earlier this month.
“I have had the privilege of working in this County for over 26 years and I am incredibly appreciative of this appointment,” said Chief Martin. “I’m honored to continue serving the County in this new capacity.”
“I’m pleased Napa County will continue to benefit from Chief Martin’s experienced, local leadership. On behalf of my colleagues, we would like to extend our congratulations on his appointment. We look forward to working with Chief Martin in his new role,” said Alfredo Pedroza Chair of the Napa County Board of Supervisors.
Chief Martin began his career with CAL FIRE in 1988 and moved to Napa County in 1995 for a firefighting job. Chief Martin has worked through several fire department ranks across multiple areas, and was assigned to Incident Management Teams from 2007-2020.
In May 2019, Chief Martin was promoted to Assistant Chief of Napa County Fire Department. In that role, Chief Martin was responsible for updating the Napa County policy manual, as well as overseeing all fire operations for Napa County Fire Department.
“Jason has helped mitigate some of the County’s most challenging disasters and I’m confident his leadership will continue to be an asset to the County,” said CAL FIRE’s Sonoma-Lake-Napa Unit Chief Shana Jones.