S2: E1 Sam Peña / Houston Fire Chief

On today's episode my dear friend and the incredible Fire Chief of Houston, Samuel Peña.

Samuel Peña has a diverse Public Safety background spanning over 29 years, currently serving as Fire Chief for the Houston Fire Department (HFD) in Houston, TX. The Houston Fire Department is the 3rd largest Fire Department in the nation. He previously served as Fire Chief for the El Paso Fire Department (EPFD) in El Paso, TX. After 4 years in the U.S. Air Force, Peña joined the EPFD in 1994 where he served for 22 years. Peña has been promoted to various supervisory and chief officer roles throughout his career. Chief Peña is a PEER Assessor for the Center for Public Safety Excellence (CPSE) and has participated in numerous assessments of major city fire departments and military facility fire protection agencies. He has been a Credentialled Paramedic, and an Advanced Medical Coordinator for the Texas Department of State Health Service. He holds certifications in Structural Firefighting, Aircraft Rescue Fire Fighter, Hazardous Materials Technician, Confined Space Rescue Technician, and Fire and EMS Instructor, and has commanded Fire/Rescue resources at various incidents of significance including Hurricane Harvey (2017), Super Bowl 51 (2017), Tropical Storm Imelda (2019), Tropical Storm Beta (2020), Watson Grinding Explosion (2020), Hurricane Nicholas (2021), Winter Storm Uri (2021), Astroworld Festival Incident (2021), and World Series (2017, 2019, 2021, 2022).

Chief Peña has a Bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from the University of Texas-El Paso, and Master’s in Business Administration from the University of Texas-El Paso. He has instructed certification courses in various fire and emergency medical service disciplines. Chief Peña contributed on the 21st-Century Fire and Emergency Services white paper for the Center for CPSE and the International City/County Managers Association (ICMA), cited in Advanced Fire and Emergency Services Administration, 2nd Edition, published in 2022 by Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC.; and Command Presence; Increase Your Influence, published in 2023 by Fire Engineering Books & Videos. Peña was named as the 2023 Fire Chief of the Year by the Metropolitan Fire Chiefs Association and is active in a variety of national associations and serves on numerous committees.

You don’t want to miss this episode! Get ready!