By Jeff McDonald
The San Diego Union-Tribune
SAN DIEGO — Even before he was officially sworn in as the 19th fire chief in San Diego city history on Saturday, the number held a special significance for Robert Logan.
The first Black Americans were hired as firefighters in 1919, Logan said at his swearing-in ceremony at Bayview Church of San Diego, not far from where he grew up in Lincoln Park.
The first station to desegregate was No. 19 back in 1951, he said. And the same Ocean View Boulevard firehouse was the new chief’s first post.
“No one succeeds alone and the strength of our department is in our unity,” Logan, 51, said during his acceptance address before hundreds of friends, colleagues, politicians and members of the public. “Our teamwork is the bedrock on which we will build our future successes.”
Every pew inside the historic house of worship was filled with well-wishers and witnesses to the new history of San Diego Fire-Rescue, the sprawling agency responsible for extinguishing fires, answering paramedic calls and patrolling the shorelines of the region’s beaches.
When the time came for Logan to have his chief’s badge pinned on the front of his freshly pressed uniform, he turned to Benny Holman, the first San Diego firefighter to break the color barrier and work alongside white colleagues.
Holman, who began with the department in 1951 and rose to the rank of deputy chief before retiring in 1983, remained seated in one of the front pews as he performed the honor.
Logan, who has served San Diego Fire-Rescue for 24 years, will now oversee a department with a $467 million budget and roughly 1,400 employees.
He rose from firefighter, to fire engineer, to fire captain, to battalion chief and finally to deputy chief. He was nominated for the top spot by Mayor Todd Gloria in June from a candidate pool that stretched past 70 applicants from across the country after Chief Colin Stowell announced his retirement after 34 years with the department.
“He knows San Diego because he’s from San Diego,” Gloria said. “His leadership, his vision will usher the department into the future. With San Diego police Chief Scott Wahl and Fire-Rescue Chief Robert Logan, we have the Dream Team for public safety.”
Gerard Washington, who was hired as Vista fire chief last year, said he received a surprise email from Logan within his first weeks on the job. He quickly accepted the San Diego deputy fire chief’s invitation to meet.
“It says a lot about him to reach out,” the Vista chief said. “We became fast friends.”
Annie Lyles, executive director of the Aaron Price Fellows leadership nonprofit, said the entire San Diego community was rooting for Logan but everyone understands the challenge will not be easy.
“It’s not just glamour. It requires grit,” Lyles said about the responsibility Logan was undertaking. “Think of us every minute, we are with you. That’s what we are swearing in today.”
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