Fire department celebrates promotions

City officials and family and friends of the Costa Mesa Fire Department gathered at City Hall on Friday for the swearing-in ceremony of four promoted department leaders.

Jason Pyle was sworn in as a new division chief alongside Steven Airey, Fred McDowell and Taylor Voss as new captains.

Fire Chief Dan Stefano noted how the department promotions usually occur at the fire station, but this year, “We feel it’s important to share that with what we’re part of, which is the bigger community.”

As division chief, Pyle, who worked in Anaheim, Menlo Park and Fullerton before coming to Costa Mesa in 2003, will work on department operations and alongside management during labor negotiations.

“He truly is one of the most brilliant, analytical minds in the Orange County fire service,” Stefano said of Pyle.

Pyle took a philosophical turn in his remarks to the audience.

“A promotion ceremony,” he said, “is a moment of reflection, where we come from, where we’re going and an appreciation for getting there.”

Airey came to Costa Mesa in 2003. In 2007, he became treasurer of the firefighters association.

Battalion Chief Kevin Diamond joked how Airey likes to practice yoga in his spare time, “which is part of the reason for his calm demeanor around the fire station.”

McDowell joined the department in 1998, after a ride-along with Santa Ana firefighters he said changed his life. Before that, he was a professional musician. During Friday’s ceremony, he played the national anthem on his trumpet.

Officials gave him particular credit for his 20 years with the department’s honor guard and his passion for teaching others.

McDowell said many have helped him attain his captain’s badge.

“Many of you own a piece of it,” he said. “I’ll always work hard to make you proud of that piece.”

Voss came to Costa Mesa in 2003. The Navy veteran is a third-generation firefighter whom fire officials lauded for his integrity and hard work on updating the department’s paramedic equipment.

Voss has also been on the department’s committees for emergency medical services and rescue ambulances.

Ric Olsen, lead pastor at The Beacon church in Orange, gave an invocation in which he said the firefighting profession that the four men embody is about self-sacrifice.

It’s about “heading towards danger,” he said, “so their communities, their families, their friends and strangers alike might feel safe.”