by Mark McDermott
The old adage goes: be careful what you ask for. Chief Jesse Alexander entered the fire service 25 years ago because he wanted to be challenged. His subsequent career has included some of the most challenging incidents in the history of firefighting, such as wildfires so immense they are simply known as the Cedar Fire and the Camp Fire, and the mass evacuation that resulted when a dam broke in Northern California, known as the Orville Speedway.
Alexander, who last week took the helm of the Manhattan Beach Fire Department, was on the cusp of law school 25 years ago when he changed courses and became a firefighter. Alexander did so because he was drawn to the dynamic and demanding nature of the job.
“The diversity is what is so amazing about the fire service,” Alexander said. “And that is why I love it so much — the diversity of skill sets is off the charts. A long, long time ago, I was told about a study the military was doing to try to identify positions to teach military leaders about how to manage multiple scenarios, so they did a giant study of analyzing all these occupations to see what jobs are out there where you have to be an expert in the widest diversity of things. Number one was an astronaut, and number two was a fire captain. Because of all the different things, you just can’t just be like, ‘Oh, I think I kind of know this,’ whether it’s hazmat, technical rescue, trench rescue, ocean rescue, high rise fires, basement fires, car fires….I mean, it goes on and on and on. You have to challenge yourself to be an expert in every single aspect.”
Alexander got what he asked for. He’s been challenged from the outset of his career, when he served as a firefighter for CAL FIRE, the state wildfire-fighting agency, through 19 years at one of the busiest agencies in the state, the Chico Fire Department, where he rose to division chief; and over the past five and a half years as the chief of the Yuba City Fire Department, where he was credited with calming a department coming out of a turbulent time and in so doing becoming something of a legend in that community.
“Chief Alexander has been a stabilizing force and a pillar of excellence and humility for the Yuba City Fire Department and this city,” said Yuba Mayor David Shaw.
YCFD Captain Kevin Kennedy, who also served as the head of his department’s firefighter’s union and thus ostensibly an occasional adversary of the chief, said he had come to a place of outright admiration for Alexander.
“Well, shoot, man, I am just going to sound like I am just singing the guy’s praises,” Kennedy said. “But I’ve been in the organization I currently work for for 24 years, and Jesse is one of the greatest guys I have had the opportunity to work with…..Right from the beginning, I could tell he is a selfless guy. He wants to come in and do what he can to make an organization better. And he’s humble. He’s the guy who gives out accolades, and doesn’t like to receive any. Even though he might be a huge part of whatever positive thing is happening, he’s going to give everybody else the credit for it.”
A career in the fire service wasn’t on Alexander’s radar when he was a young guy. After receiving a degree in political science and government from California State University at Chico, he was working for a law firm and saving up money for law school, with the longer term goal of working for the FBI. But something about that environment didn’t feel quite right, and a friend suggested he consider the fire service.
“A friend I knew from college said to me, ‘You really like to use your brain, but you also like to use your hands,’” Alexander said. “Because I did lots of construction work growing up, so yeah, I wanted to be active and use the manipulative side, but I also wanted to be intellectually stimulated and challenged by my occupation. And he’s like, ‘You know, you should try this before you go to law school.’ And I gambled on it, and I kind of drank the Kool Aid for the fire service really quick, because I just kind of fell right into it. I didn’t even think about going to law school after quickly getting hired by CAL FIRE.”
Early in his career, Alexander was part of the team sent to fight the Cedar Fire in San Diego County, which remains one of largest, by sheer size, in the state’s history, burning over 273,000 acres. It would be a harbinger of what was to come in his career.
“I’m just that guy that draws the worst incidents in the world,” he said. “And that’s where I thrive. The more sketchy it is, the better I tend to do, which isn’t the best thing to say, but it is just the way things happened. I had some pretty big stuff going on when I got with CAL FIRE, from guys getting burned over, and then diving into Chico, which pretty much right out the door is a very very busy department. You just name it, I felt like I had it, from the largest mass fentanyl overdose in U.S. history, to the Camp Fire, to the Oroville Spillway, to the Dixie Fire. I mean, it just goes on and on.”
The Camp Fire in 2018 was the most destructive fire in California history, destroying 18,000 homes. Alexander recalls being “knee deep” in Paradise, the town that was utterly destroyed by the fire.
“The Cedar Fire was the big fire for maybe the first half of my career,” he said. “And now almost every year, we have a fire that makes the Cedar Fire look like nothing. In the last 10 or 12 years, it has just exploded….And then I was involved in the Oroville Spillway, so you get it on the opposite end of the spectrum. Unfortunately, it’s just one disaster after another.”
It’s not something Alexander likes to talk about, but something that weighs on him so much that he feels compelled to — how firefighters in California have all become wildfire fighters, and the impact it has had on their physical and mental health. He’s endured the deaths of firefighters from cancers that resulted from all the chemical exposure they were subjected to fighting wildfires, and has good friends in the fire service currently battling cancer.
“Last year, I spoke at the California League of Cities on the impacts of PTSD on the fire service, and how between that and cancer there are long term consequences to the longevity of what we perceive as the traditional fire service,” Alexander said.
Alexander had worked alongside some firefighters from Yuba City on the strike force that came to Southern California to fight the Thomas Fire in 2017 and had been impressed. He was by that point a division chief for Chico and was thinking about how he could have a bigger impact. The next year, he decided to become a chief.
“After the Camp Fire, I felt like the best way to make true change in the community was to be the fire chief,” he said. “I knew some guys from Yuba City that I’ve been down here on the Thomas Fire, down in Carpinteria, and I just saw how well they carried themselves and how they handled adverse conditions. And I’m like, ‘Well, there’s a handful of guys [like that] here, so I know that there’s more than that. And so went to Yuba City, and was very fortunate to work with some amazing individuals, and we accomplished some great things.”
YCFD firefighter Scott Stevenson, an outspoken, unofficial leader within the Yuba City Fire Department, formed a special bond with Alexander. Stevenson said that many facets of Alexander’s leadership stood out, but the common thread was just how deeply he cared — for the community, for the fire service, and especially for his firefighters.
“I’ve worked for the Yuba City Fire Department for 16 years, almost 17, and I’ve gone through four chiefs since then,”said Stevenson, who leads the YCFD’s advanced rescue operations even though he’s chosen to remain at just the rank of firefighter. “I will say that he’s definitely the best chief I’ve ever had. And that’s not just BS’ing. It’s really from the greatest standpoint — his level of care for the guys that work under him. The greatest thing that I could say about him is that he cares, and even when he had to make tough decisions, or maybe he was facing challenges that weren’t necessarily going to go great with the [fire union] membership, everyone still knew that he had their back. Which in the type of community like the fire service is one of the greatest things. Even though guys might disagree with some of his [leadership] style, or whatever, everyone knows that the decisions that he’s making are because he cares about us and he cares about our families.”
Some chiefs bury themselves in their administrative capacities, and lose the heart of a firefighter, the thing that drew them into the service. Stevenson said there is a term within the fire service for what Alexander exemplified as a chief.
“Jesse is a fireman’s chief,” he said. “He is willing to put his neck on the line to make decisions that are best for the guys and the things that he stands for.”
Kennedy, the YCFD captain, said that Alexander was surprisingly adept, for a first-time chief, at both serving his own bosses at City Hall while being extremely attentive to what rank and file needed at all times. He recalled Alexander calling him before he took the helm of the department. Kennedy was union president at the time, and Alexander wanted to make sure everyone was on the same page.
“It was a breath of fresh air to have him come in and try to learn what organization was and what our city needs were,” Kennedy said. “He’s super in tune with NFPA [National Fire Protection Association] standards and national standards. “He’s a data guy, so he’ll learn what the city needs, in terms of fire protection and personnel, and personnel per population, and make sure to fight hard to get those guys everything that they need while obviously leading and still handling all the administrative stuff that a fire chief has to do.”
Stevenson said that Alexander brought a more modern approach to Yuba City fire, specifically in recognizing the needs of his crew on a human level.
“I started in the fire service when I was 17, and I’ve been doing it for almost two decades,” he said. “Needless to say, I have experienced a lot of my own trauma and dealt with PTSD…And he has been not only just a huge advocate for us, as the line guys, but also from a personal level of just helping me recognize some of the things that I am experiencing.”
“He brought in this psychologist who worked with a lot of the Camp Fire guys in Chico and my crew specifically,” Stevenson said. “We were like, ‘Man, this is a bunch of BS. Like, why are they bringing in a therapist?’ We weren’t seeking this out, and none of us were super excited about chatting with this lady. And she came by the firehouse, and we sat for like over an hour and a half, and all three of us, after we got done, we’re like, ‘Dang, that was an amazing experience.’ That was really awesome, and that was all done by him.”
Kennedy said that Alexander also represents a newer generational kind of leadership that is both data driven but also more cognizant of the human side of the fire service.
“He’s that younger generation, right now he’s still in his late 40s,” he said. “So [issues like PTSD] are coming out more on the forefront than they ever did before and younger guys like him can recognize it a little bit and see where there’s something missing.”
It was this level of care, and attention to detail, that stood out to Manhattan Beach City Manager Talyn Mirzakhanian during the hiring process.
“His genuine commitment to his firefighters and the communities he serves really stood out throughout our process,” she said. “We are confident he will build strong relationships here while drawing on his experience to support and elevate our already excellent fire services.”
Alexander said that modernizing the fire service is about always following the best science, and never falling for the illusion that your department does not need change.
“To me, it’s progressive,” he said. “Sometimes some occupations are resistant to change, and thankfully, the science is advancing in regards to mitigating fires, both structure fires and wildland fires. Fire departments need to embrace that change. That means you’re going to have different tactics than you traditionally have been using in fighting fires. Because our fuel loads have changed, our wild land conditions have changed, and so you have to be able to adapt and change and progress. So complacency, for me…That is something that infuriates me, complacency. Because I’ve had the close calls, I’ve had the line of duty deaths from guys that have died from cancer, I’ve had the individuals who have attempted to take their lives due to PTSD. I’ve fallen through a floor up to my armpits, and watched other individuals be rescued out of buildings. We just can’t be complacent, because every single day can impact these firefighters’ lives, and their families. And so yes, I’m constantly trying to push the ball forward in the fire service.”
Kennedy said that MBFD’s gain is YCFD’s loss.
“Hopefully, everything will line up there, and he’ll spend a few years there and help those guys out, and they’ll do well,” he said. “I’m happy for those guys. And bummed for us.”
Alexander said the decision to come to Manhattan Beach was in large part driven by his family’s needs, which include some medical challenges that can be better met in the Los Angeles area. He also has two teenage sons he hopes to give the broader range of opportunities available in the area.
“My kids, they’re 15 and 16, they don’t know anything other than living in Chico,” he said. “I want to make sure that they’re exposed to a different world than just in a 120,000 person Central Valley town. I love Chico. It’s great. But I want them exposed to more opportunities.”
His family also quite simply needed to have a break from the ongoing sense disaster that they have almost become accustomed to.
“For my family, we’ve lived in Butte County, where we’ve had one absolute disaster after another since we can remember,” Alexander said. “That takes a toll on your family, and it’s just every year, just living in smoke. There are components — I mean, watching the Camp Fire come up and over and just burn all of our friends and families houses down, the Dixie Fire that burnt so many friends’ homes, the Park Fire…It’s just every year, and you throw the Oroville Spillway into it, and it all becomes a little overwhelming.”
He’s already impressed with MBFD.
“It’s only day five, but what always jumps out, what you quickly pick up on, is when you have a fire department that hires well,” Alexander said. “It picks individuals, both men and women, who are bringing true caring, and are good individuals, and want to do right by the fire service. And you can quickly see from the individuals here [at MBFD] that they’ve done that. You can do amazing things with people like this.”
His family is also quickly falling in love with Manhattan Beach and the Beach Cities lifestyle.
“We were down in Redondo Beach watching fireworks on the Fourth of July, and I look over and my wife has got a blanket on her, and a beanie on her, and some gloves, and it was just this nice vibe,” he said. “And I am talking to guys back in Chico and Yuba City, and it’s 100 degrees and there’s smoke coming down the valley from Redding from the fires that are burning there. So it’s kind of like this dream component. My wife says, it’s like every time we go down into Manhattan Beach, there’s a vibe, an energy, a liveliness to it that is just infectious. You want to be a part of it. Even the Grand Prix [cycle race] we just had on Sunday, coming down to watch that and be a part of it, and all the special events this community has…It’s just not the norm everywhere.”
Stevenson said that Alexander is also not the norm. He recalled that his former chief used to commute 50 minutes from Chico to Yuba City, and he’d spend that time calling different firehouses, talking to different firefighters, especially those who might have had a tough call the previous day.
“I hope the [MBFD] guys can welcome him down there,” he said. “At the end of the day, after late afternoon conversations or whatever, I would always go back to my crew and be like, ‘He’s such a good dude.’ They would make fun of me because of that phrase, which I would always say, like, ‘Oh gosh, Jessie did this and this.’ ‘But man, he’s such a good dude.’ Because he really is. He just really cares.” ER
