New Fire Chief Announced

A fireman with 23 years of experience is Cupertino’s—and Santa Clara County’s--new fire chief.

Kenneth Kehmna, deputy fire chief, replaces Chief Kenneth Waldvogel, who retired at the end of last year. Kehmna takes over as fire chief Monday.

“Chief Kehmna brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to the position of fire chief,” said Dave Cortese, president of the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors. “He is intimately familiar with fire service in Santa Clara County and dedicated to providing high-level quality services to our community.”

He has served as deputy fire chief since 2007, first in charge of operations, where he managed the four department battalions and the fire investigation division. Since 2009 Kehmna has been in charge of training.

His resume includes battalion chief, training captain and fire captain with the Santa Clara County Fire Department.

He will continue to serve on the State Training and Education Advisory Committee, which provides policy review for the state fire marshal and final review of all state fire training courses.

Kehmna's career began in 1987 as a firefighter with the Campbell Fire Department.

In addition to Cupertino the Santa Clara County Fire Department serves the communities of Campbell, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Los Gatos, Monte Sereno, Morgan Hill and Saratoga.

Contributed by Bay City News Service