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I’m sitting in the South Pasadena Firehouse living room with Fire Chief Paul Riddle. It’s a place he’s called home for almost 33 years. Riddle is the 17th Fire Chief in the 116 year history of the department. Sworn in August of 2017, Riddle has served the department first as a volunteer, hired in 1992, and worked his way through the ranks serving as a Firefighter, Engineer, Captain, Battalion Chief, Deputy Fire Chief and Chief. He has also been in charge of training for the cities of South Pasadena, San Marino, and San Gabriel Fire Departments as part of the Verdugo Cities Fire and has held the positions of Department Training Officer, Safety Officer, Emergency Manager, Fitness Coordinator, and is a Chief Officer for the California State Fire Marshal. He holds an Associate in Science degree from Mt. San Antonio College in fire technology and a Bachelor’s Degree in Management from California Coast University.
“August 1st is my last day with the city,” says Riddle with a bittersweet smile that speaks volumes. When he was sworn in as Fire Chief in August of 2017, he said, “I don’t know if I have the words to express how honored I am to take over as the 17th Fire Chief in the 110 year history of this fire department,” – a sentiment he continues to hold. “We just hired three more firefighter paramedics. So we’re fully staffed, which was one of my goals, to leave the department fully staffed with a good succession plan, just to confidently walk away and say that the fire department’s in a good place to keep doing what we’ve been doing for, you know, 116 years now.”
Riddle wants the community to know that we are in a good place. “We’ve got really good people, good people coming on board and we are fully staffed.” We talk about all the various roles he has had over 32 years and he says, “it’s been quite a run. I never actually wanted to be a fire chief. I thought the rank of captain would be my ceiling. I was always involved in the Union (South Pasadena Firefighters Association) and I spent six years as the union president. That’s where I learned the lesson of “the style of hostile labor negotiations with the City doesn’t work, so why don’t we, as an organization, align ourselves and actually do our homework and learn?” What’s the city’s budget? What is the strategic plan and how does the fire department align with that and let’s get in alignment and let’s come to the table more prepared and in the spirit of collaboration. And that proved to be pretty effective.” He goes on to explain that those lessons followed him when working as Battalion Chief and Deputy Chief and into the opportunity of Fire Chief.
In 2014, the city entered into a tri-city management merger with San Marino and San Gabriel, where we shared one Fire Chief, although Riddle, for all intents and purposes was the Fire Chief for South Pasadena. He was officially given the title in 2017 when the agreement was sunsetted, after the cities realized that they each needed their own Fire Chief and their own direct point of contact for the City Council and City Manager. “We still currently have parts of that agreement that worked effectively – we took what worked and scaled it back a bit. I think that will be a model that we continue to look at in this area – sharing resources that are duplicated with small cities. If you share those costs, it can be very cost effective. So we’re constantly looking at opportunities to do that.”
When asked to reflect on his years serving as our Fire Chief, Riddle says, “I can honestly say there are a lot of things that I’m proud of. It’s human nature to always look back and question some of the decisions that you’ve made. At the time, you make the best decision you can. And then after, you get to analyze it from the other side – you realize, okay, it wasn’t the best decision at the time, maybe it wasn’t perfect, but you learn from it. I think we’ve come a long way as a small agency, and where and how we fit in with the 31 agencies in L.A. County – we’re right at the table with all 31 agencies. We border the largest agency on the West Coast, Los Angeles, and we have a great working relationship with them and with all the agencies. That has not always been the case.”
In prior years, South Pasadena did not have all the agreements we have today. South Pasadena has mutual and automatic aid agreements with every single department. He says that in L.A. County we actually operate like one, big fire department. What mutual aid means to South Pasadena citizens is that when we call 911, our automated dispatch is always going to get the closest resource to your emergency, even if South Pasadena units are tied up. “Getting our department at the table with these other departments has been huge,” says Riddle. “I think we’ve come a long way in the past ten years as a department.”
And how has that happened? “Quite honestly, I really kind of put my hand up and said, “hey, we’re going to volunteer for anything.” And the command staff is in full support. When I ask them to participate in whatever it is, we’re there,” he tells us. Riddle sits on the Executive Board for the Los Angeles Fire Chiefs Association. There are nine members of which three, Los Angeles city, L.A. County, and Long Beach are standing members. The other seats are voted on by the other chiefs. He also sits on the executive board of the Area C Foothill Fire Chiefs. “Just sitting on those boards and being a voting member is half the battle. It breaks down the barriers so we all operate the same way and speak the same language.”
Riddle says the one thing that most prepared him to be Fire Chief was his position as President of the South Pasadena Firefighters Association. “You learn very quickly that you have to know your audience, and that audience, whether it’s the city’s executive team, whether it’s during negotiations, whether it’s the community, you want to present the fire department in a positive light. And the union president drives a lot of that. Whether or not we’re engaging in the community and showing up at events – you can be ordered to do that all day long. Or you can just say, “hey, this is the best thing for everybody.” It’s a win win in a small community. The union drives a lot of that discussion because you’re representing your own members. They vote you into that position and so it was truly an honor to serve in that position and it definitely teaches you skill sets that you can only learn by doing it.”
I ask the Chief why he is retiring now. “I’ve always felt that it’s really important for individuals in leadership positions to know when is the right time to retire. I think there’s a kind of break even point that you get to be aware of – everyone has an effective timeframe. And so, just speaking for the fire department, I think we’re in a really good position to transition and to let the succession plan take hold – everything we’ve worked for. There are members in our department that are ready to grow and ready to take on that next assignment. And sometimes that needs to start from the top.”
He says the second consideration is personal health. “This career, 32 years, I mean, quite honestly, it takes a toll. There is a time where you just know. It’s like, it’s time – your body’s telling you – you want to slow down a bit. Because even as Chief, it’s physical –23 years in fire suppression, that makes an impact.”
He acknowledges the impact that the pandemic had on first responders. “I think people forget, for the fire department, those two and a half years of trying to, on a daily basis, to manage the ever-changing protocols for safety and how we were supposed to respond to emergencies in our community. It was brutal. And 2020 was the busiest brush fire season we’ve ever had on record. And we had significant turnover in city leadership during 2020.” In fact, there was a short period of time that Riddle had to take over as acting City Manager until an interim City Manager could get in place.
“So all that to just say, the time is right and sometimes you need to close the door to let other things open.” Riddle plans to continue teaching physical fitness and fire science classes at Rio Hondo College and fire technology classes at the Fire Academy, which he says is his recruiting ground. “That’s the neat thing about where I’m at. And why it just feels good. You know, you asked why now. The fire department’s in a good place, I’m in a good place with the Firefighter’s association. We have a great culture here in the fire department, we really do. It’s kind of unique. I’m going out with all these just amazing friends, lifelong friends. So being able to keep that collaboration going, so to speak, and, you know, being available. I mean, there’s a lot of historical knowledge going away after 32 years.”
Being in our community for over three decades is something Riddle holds close to his heart. “There are people I’ve known in this community for years. Not many Fire Chiefs can walk down the street in the community they serve and have people recognize them and come out and talk awhile. I’ve responded with these people for years – cried with them when they’ve lost loved ones. Some have become lifelong friends. I have never shied away from telling everyone that in a small city like this, it’s such a win win when the community truly backs public safety. We have never gone through a season where we didn’t have the backing of the community. At the end of the day, they really put a high value on the model that we have here. More agencies in L.A. County probably wish they could have the model we have with firefighter paramedics responding on every call. We wouldn’t be able to do what we do and carry out our mission statement if we didn’t have the support of this community.”
“This community will not miss a beat with my retirement. Whoever takes over as Fire Chief is going to be acquiring a pretty smooth-running operation. Now, there’s hard work that goes into that but I think this department and the people here today – I’m very confident that they’re just ready to keep doing what they’re doing and they take pride in what they do.” He goes on to talk about what he sees as a “very good season of good leadership.” He and SPPD Chief Solinsky talk every day. Riddle says it’s one more thing that is rare and unique about South Pasadena. “Police and Fire don’t always get along. We just do. We have two different kind of core functions but we respond together every day. We have always had an excellent working relationship with our law enforcement partners. We make sure we’re in line with each other’s needs and that we’re supporting each other. And communication with city leadership has never been better. Under the leadership of Arminé Chaparyan, our current executive team works extremely well together! They all work tirelessly for this community and this community is well served to continue supporting them.”
“I think we’ve come a long way just in my 32 years,” says Riddle. “On just how we have adapted to what customer service looks like today, because it looks different than it did 32 years ago. And that’s probably the biggest takeaway for me – people ask me, “what’s your job as a fire chief?” And really, that’s the number one job – to constantly evaluate whether or not we’re effective on our delivery of service, our deployment model, and are we delivering the service that we promised to the community. Because if you break it down, we save lives and protect property. That’s what we do. That’s our core functions. And, you know, customer service just looks different year after year. And if you’re not positioning yourself in a small community to deliver good customer service, on a daily basis, you’re going to fall behind. And how do I do that? I engage in the community. What I would say to this community is it’s been an absolute pleasure. Working alongside this community and getting to know this community. Like I said, I have lifelong friends. And there’s a trust that builds up that enables us to evaluate whether or not we’re being effective. When people call 911, they’re having the worst day of their life. And it may be to us something we’ve gone on 100 times in a week, but to the person we’re responding on, it is the biggest moment in their life. So we don’t ever take it for granted. We want to give them the treatment they deserve.”
Riddle’s high school sweetheart and wife of 32 years, Lynn, is looking forward to seeing a lot more of the man she calls her prince. “After 37 years of being with this man, I fall in love with him more every day,” says Lynn. “His faith, integrity, compassion, and his fierce love for myself and the girls, to mention a few reasons. He is a man of his word! His yes is a yes and no is a no. He has the ability to be an example of a pillar of strength even in the hardest moments.” And as for SPFD, she went on to say, “I know for a fact he has given his all for the department. He definitely is a firefighters chief. He balances being there for the city government, his colleagues and the citizens, all the while being there for the guys. I know he will miss them immensely.”
“Lynn has been with me the whole journey,” says Riddle. “When she met me she knew I wanted to be a firefighter. When I was at the Fire Academy, she made my lunches and to this day she presses my uniforms. In fact, my daughter is soon to be engaged to a young man who’s in the fire Academy and he is staying with us while he’s in the academy. She says it’s like déjà vu watching our daughter prepare to be married to a firefighter. But she is definitely ready for me to retire. She was ready three years ago!” I reminded him of what he said about Lynn at his swearing in and he asked me to quote him because it’s exactly how he feels today. He said, “I would not be where I am today without the love and support of my family – we’ve heard it said that behind every successful person is a loving and supportive partner. I’ve kind of grown to disagree with that over the years. What’s held true in my life is that my wife Lynn has never been behind me; she’s always been right beside me or in front of me blazing the trail telling me ‘you got this’.”
Riddle has most certainly had our backs for over three decades. On behalf of a very grateful community, we thank you Chief Paul Riddle, for 32 years of care and service to the people of South Pasadena and wish you a very happy, healthy and successful retirement!
