Fire chief returns to his South Bay roots

Rialto Fire Chief Robert Espinosa (center) started his career in the South Bay and will return to head Manhattan’s Fire Dept. on June 13. Photo courtesy of RFD
Rialto Fire Chief Robert Espinosa, slated to take over the Manhattan Beach Fire Department on June 13, began his firefighting career following around Apache helicopters.
As a fire protection specialist for the U.S. Army in 1978, he was on-hand in case one of the top secret helicopters, of which there were four at the time, crashed and burned in the Arizona desert where they were being tested. By the end of his tenure, Espinosa, 52, was waking up at all hours of the day and night to jump in a helicopter and follow around the Apaches for 10 hours straight. During a 2 a.m. desert exercise during the Iran Conflict, he rescued two pilots knocked unconscious after their Cobra helicopter came down hard.
“My job was, if it crashed, to shut everything down and get the pilot out,” he said.
On June 13, the 29-year fire veteran will circle back to his South Bay roots and take over as chief of MBFD, replacing Interim Fire Chief Ken Shuck 15 months after former Fire Chief Scott Ferguson resigned.
“My heart’s always been in the South Bay,” said Espinosa, who started firefighting for the El Segundo Fire Dept. after he was discharged. “I’ve always enjoyed small-town firefighting. When this position opened up, it was a no-brainer for me.”
Espinosa was selected from 33 applicants and five interviewees after a search conducted in-house, according to Manhattan Beach City Manager Dave Carmany.
“Bob stood out as an experienced manager who has a consistent vision for the Manhattan Beach Fire Department,” Carmany said. “That, plus the VW camper.”
A home mechanic, Espinosa has been fixing up a 1986 Volkswagen Vanagon Westphalia he’s owned since 1987 and that has the “status of a loved family member.”
“When my kids were pre-teens they ducked when I dropped them off at school,” Espinosa said. “Now that they are grown up they ask for it in my will.”
Espinosa lives in Seal Beach with his wife, Laurie, and his step children James, 18, Aubree, 15, and Anthony, 13. He also has three other children, Angela, 30, Kelly, 27, and Jacob, 24, from a previous marriage.
Born and raised in Inglewood, Espinosa graduated from Leuzinger High School in 1977. At 16, he decided he wanted to be a firefighter after attending a high school career fair. He spent a semester at El Camino College in Torrance after graduation during which he took a call from a U.S. Army recruiter.
“I said, “Yeah, sure – if you have firefighters,” Espinosa recalled. “He said, ‘As a matter of fact, we do.’”
Three weeks later, Espinosa was training in the army at Fort Leavenworth, Missouri, before he was transferred to Alaska and later Arizona.
“In Alaska, people do whatever they can to stay warm,” he said. “There are a lot of fire activities and I learned quickly.”
After his discharge in 1982, Espinosa served as a firefighter with El Segundo for two years before transferring to Long Beach, where he said L.A’s largest port, an airport and a diverse demographic afforded him the type of experience required to ultimately lead a department.
During his 24 years with Long Beach, Espinosa moved up the ranks to become assistant fire chief in 2007, before he was hired the following year as fire chief for Rialto where manages a department that has 72 employees, a budget of $13.5 million dollars and responds to 8,500 calls annually. He also has an associate degree in Applied Sciences in Fire Science from Arizona Western College, a bachelor’s degree in Occupational Studies from California State University, Long Beach, completed the Managing Fire Prevention and Executive Planning programs and is enrolled in the National Fire Academy’s Executive Fire Officers program.
When Espinosa learned of the chief position opening in Manhattan, he jumped on the chance.
“I’m most excited to be working in a small community that is very involved in government and really has embraced its fire department,” Espinosa said. “I like to create a vision so people know what direction they’re going in.”
Espinosa wants to look into incorporating new philosophies and technologies that have been successful elsewhere, such as the addition of mobile data computers to fire engines, which has reduced RFD’s response time.
“That kind of system has potential in the South Bay,” Espinosa said.
Last week, he toured the city’s fire department and met its staff.
“They just looked at me like the new animal in the zoo, trying to figure out what kind of animal I am – a reptile or a mammal,” he said. “But it was a good first meeting.” ER