Council approves appointment of retired battalion chief to bolster incident‑management capacity

The Corona City Council unanimously approved a resolution March 4 to appoint a retired annuitant as an extra‑help battalion chief to strengthen the city’s incident‑management and training capacity.

Fire Chief Brian Young told the council the appointment waives the typical 180‑day wait for rehiring retirees because of the year‑round need for experienced incident support. Chief Young said the role is intended to provide mentorship, deliver training and allow Corona personnel to participate in larger incidents under established incident‑management teams. He said deployments and assignments that occur through state mutual‑aid are reimbursable and that the appointment therefore carries no net cost to the city.

Chief Young described the value to the department as threefold: mentorship for current members, expanded training opportunities, and better integration of Corona personnel into pre‑deployed incident management teams. Councilors praised the hire and welcomed the appointee — referred to during the meeting as a highly experienced incident commander who will add access to type‑3 incident command roles — noting it should raise local qualifications and incident readiness. The council approved the appointment with a unanimous vote.

Action taken: approval of item 9.1 (retired annuitant appointment), effective immediately.