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New fire officials promoted
In a solemn ceremony Thursday, Fire Chief Reginald Garcia swore in 12 of 14 fire officials who had earned promotions.
“You represent the leadership for the 21st century,” the chief told the 10 men and two women about to receive their new badges.
This was the largest group to be promoted in the memory of the department, Garcia said. The large numbers of promotions are a result of the sizable group of officers who retired, taking advantage of a recent change in state law, which permits fire fighters to retire with good benefits at an earlier age.
“We lost 271 years of collective knowledge and skills,” Garcia said, underscoring the weight of the new tasks before those promoted.
Loved ones pinned the new badges on the officers.
One particularly moving pair was the newly promoted Assistant Chief Robert Petersen, whose badge was anchored by his mother, Joy Petersen. Petersen’s father, the late George Petersen had been in the Berkeley Fire Department for 32 years and retired in 1984 as assistant chief.
Others promoted were Captains Gilbert Dong, Rodney Foster and Richard Watters; Lieutenants Paul Cavagnero, Dennis Foley, Richard Guzman, Shane Marbury, Karen Parroff and Bryan Ward, and Apparatus Operators Reneta Davis, Tyre Mills III, Eugene Taylor and Jay Walter.
