
Thomas Gase
Times-Herald, Vallejo, Calif.
(TNS)
Jan. 13—For the third time in less than a year, the Vallejo Fire Department has a new chief.
Vallejo City Manager Andrew Murray on Monday named Arthur Gonzales the interim chief.
“The vision of the Vallejo Fire Department will remain the same,” Gonzales said in a news release. “The Vallejo Fire Department will be a progressive organization that provides leadership and high-quality safety to the community we serve. I look forward to building upon the progress we have made as an organization in this interim role.”
Gonzales replaces Frank Drayton, who served in the same capacity since June of last year. Murray thanked Drayton for his “excellent service.” Drayton, a former fire chief and retired annuitant, was eligible to serve as Vallejo’s Interim Fire Chief for a limited period of time. The recruitment process to select a new permanent fire chief will commence soon.
Gonzales, a Vallejo native who graduated from Hogan High School in 1997, started with the Vallejo Fire Department in 1995 as a Vallejo Fire Explorer and took part in the first Firefighter Trainee Program in 2000.
The department hired Gonzales in January 2001 as a full-time Paramedic Firefighter. He was promoted to captain in February of 2014, then promoted to Battalion Chief in December of 2022 and most recently held the position of Interim Deputy Chief since April of 2024.
Gonzales is the fourth chief since early April of 2024, when Jason Ta — the current Vallejo Police Chief — replaced Kyle Long, who was named the permanent VFD Chief in late July of 2021, the first act of then Vallejo City Manager Anne Cardwell. Long had previously been named the interim Vallejo Fire Chief in April of that same year, taking over for Daryl Arbuthnott, who announced early in 2021 that he was stepping down to pursue other promising opportunities available to him that he could not pass over.
To this day, Vallejo City staff will not comment on the reason for Long’s departure saying they do not comment on “personal matters.”
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