A pair of graduates from local high schools will lead the Santa Maria Fire Department. 

After filling the top slot temporarily for the past four months, Brad Dandridge was named chief of the agency. The former leader, Todd Tuggle, resigned to lead the San Luis Obispo Fire Department.

Dandridge’s badge-pinning ceremony is scheduled for the City Council meeting on July 18.

“This is an important time for the Fire Department, with a number of changes underway, to have an exceptional leader at the helm to ensure the department continues focusing to best serve the community, standardizing operations, and leading and supporting the professional staff as they continue to provide the highest quality service,” City Manager Jason Stilwell said Friday. 

A 1989 graduate of Santa Maria High School, Dandridge went on to play baseball in college and for minor leagues, including a Los Angeles Dodgers farm team. 

After graduating from college, he wound up in sales for scholastic items. 

In his mid-30s, he became a firefighter, spending 17 years with the Fresno Fire Department and rising through the ranks to become battalion chief. Tuggle also came from the Fresno agency when he arrived in Santa Maria.

Dandridge returned to Santa Maria to serve as a deputy fire chief Jan. 30 before being named to the interim chief slot days later. 

As Dandridge takes the helm of the agency permanently, the department had identified a home for a new Fire Station 2 to serve the western areas of the community and will work to make it become reality. The current Station 2 sits near the railroad tracks, so officials want to relocate it to the west. 

Early discussions also have started about possible changes for a new headquarters building since the agency currently uses an old elementary school campus.

Dandrige was born at Clark Air Force Base in the Philippines Islands, where his dad served the military. The family later relocated to the Central Coast when his dad ended up at Vandenberg Air Force Base, now Vandenberg Space Force Base.

A chat with retired Santa Maria firefighter Doug Dickson, sharing about the great profession, helped spur Dandridge into the career.

Dandridge was hired by the Fresno Fire Department, where he had support from the then-chief who viewed the new firefighter as a future leader. 

In addition to naming Dandridge as chief, the city announced that Jim Clayton has been appointed as deputy fire chief. 

Clayton has 30 years of experience with the city beginning as a reserve firefighter in 1993 and progressing through the ranks. 

He is a graduate of St. Joseph High School, Allan Hancock College and Cogswell Polytechnical College, and has been serving as interim deputy chief since December 2022. 

The Santa Maria Fire Department, with about 62 personnel, operates five fire stations plus a sixth site dedicated to the Santa Maria Public Airport. The department responds to approximately 12,000 service calls annually.