Fire Chief Corner


    Interim Fire Chief Tom Joyce


    Thomas P. Joyce

    Fire Chief

    Fountain Fire Department

    Fountain, Colorado 80817

    [email protected]

     

    Tom is an Interim Fire Chief with Fountain Fire Department. In this role, Tom supervises/coordinates/manages/leads a Fire Department and provides all aspects of planning, including fire suppression, inspection, emergency medical service, disaster preparedness, and prevention.

    A big believer in being prepared, Tom supports inter-agency training.

    Tom is a qualified Fire Officer IV, Instructor III, Inspector III, Incident Commander Type IV, All Hazard Planning Section Chief Type III, Certified L-449, Homeland Security Exercise Evaluation Program (HSEEP) and Incident Safety Officer instructor for the State of Colorado and the Fire Department Safety Officer Association.

    Tom is no stranger to responding to all hazard type incidents, as a fire fighter and serving as an officer for the past 9 years, which taught him the importance of being prepared as an incident commander.

    • TA-25 Fire – 4/2008 – Type II – Logistics Chief

    • Bridger Fire – 6/2008 – Type II – Planning Section Chief (t)

    • Falcon Fire – 8/2008 – Type III – Planning Section Chief

    • HAZMAT FSE – 9/2008– Controller / Evaluator

    • Quarry Fire – 4/2009– Type III – Planning Section Chief

    • HAZMAT FSE – 5/2009– Designer / Controller / Evaluator

    • Tornado FSE – 8/2009– Designer / Controller / Evaluator

    • Noah’s Ark FSE – 6/2010– Controller / Evaluator

    • Rolling Pin – 8/2010– Type III – Incident Commander

    • DIA ARFF Hostage FSE – 2/2011– Evaluator

    • Fort Carson ARFF Mountain Thunder FSE – 4/2011– Designer / Controller / Evaluator

    • Fort Hood & Killeen Airport ARFF FSE – 5/2011– Evaluator

    • PAFB & CSFD ARFF FSE – 6/2011– Evaluator

    • Bear Fire – 3/2011 – Type III – Incident Safety Officer

    • Purgatoire Fire – 3/2011 – Type III – Incident Safety Officer

    • Callie Marie Fire – 6/2011– Type II/III – Incident Safety Officer

    • Track Fire – 6/2011– Type I – Liaison for Spanish Peaks

    • Waldo Canyon Fire – 6/2012– Type I – Incident Safety Officer

    • Black Forest Fire – 6/2013– Type III/I – Planning Section Chief / Situation Unit Leader

    Tom has more than 36 years of firefighting experience for all hazard emergencies.

    Prior to starting his firefighting career, Tom spent 4 years working in construction and as an Assistant Manager for a Grocery Store, which helped him create a base for building construction, customer service and managing personnel.

    Before joining the Fountain Fire Department in April of 2022, Tom worked for the last 5 years at Presidio of Monterey Fire & Emergency Services as the Fire Chief and concurrently for 1 year as the Director of Emergency Services. Prior to that he worked 15 years for Fort Carson Fire & Emergency Services with his last 6 years as an Assistant Chief, prior to joining Fort Carson Fire Department he worked 11 years as a fire fighter with Camp Pendleton Fire & Emergency Services and 6 years as a Marine Fire Fighter at both MCAS Camp Pendleton Fire Department and MCAS Kaneohe Bay Fire Department. In this role, Tom was responsible for responding, mitigating and the stabilization of all hazard type incidents.

    Tom positively influences his team by building relationships with each person, helping them discover their own personal motivation, so that they can become effective team members who are efficient in their job and more importantly that they become a valued member to their team.

    Tom offers a wide range of programs and services - from personal development, to leadership development while helping others become self-aware leaders.

    Drawing on 36 years of experience in firefighting, mitigation and stabilization, Tom now focuses mainly on risk assessments and pre-fire plans developing procedures that identify proper response levels from the initiating agency and their community partners that establishes a foundation to effectively manage an incident with the proper resources.

    Tom believes succession planning or leaving a legacy is very important for future leaders, while he is a maintaining a successful career as a leader, the departments company officers now coach/mentor/counsel their firefighters on how to achieve the same success.

    He is a firm supporter of formal education however, I he has a great appreciation for experience/tenure, certification/qualification, and good ‘ol fashioned OJT and… he holds them both in very high regard. These two aspects of professional development support each other and each have an important role in this chosen profession.

    Tom’s varied background in maintaining proper staffing levels, assigning related duties and responsibilities and his never-ending commitment to staying current with the new industry standards, while teaching and training the future leaders has provided the perfect foundation for the knowledge, skills and abilities of a Fire Chief.

    Passionate about teaching and its possibilities, Tom believes the true measure of leadership is influence and he provides coaching/counseling/mentoring opportunities for future leaders that help them prepare, develop and become self-aware leaders.

    Tom has implemented and delivered technical and professional training, while developing organized complex statistical analysis and standard procedures.

    If you have any questions please contact Tom at either 719-201-5746 or you can email him at [email protected]


    Respectfully,

    Thomas P. Joyce

    Fire Chief