Fire Chief Dan Hurlock calls it a career

DOWNEY — Fire Chief Dan Hurlock has always been a Downey guy; he grew up here, went to school here, got married here, purchased his first home here; eventually, he started working here.

That’s part of what made serving as Downey fire chief so special.

“I feel like I was pretty fortunate to get hired by Downey Fire, in the city I grew up in,” said Hurlock. “I tell everybody I love working for Downey. I grew up here. I love being out in town and seeing somebody I knew from back in the day.”

It’s been four years since Hurlock was sworn in as Chief of Downey’s Fire Department, and a fair amount has happened in that time.

The remodel of all four fire stations as part of Measure S was completed under Hurlock (it began prior to his promotion). The dispatch center received a major replacement and upgrade after around 15 years. Downey Fire’s outreach to the public has improved, including an increased relationship with Downey’s school district culminating in the rollout of a Fire Science CTE (Career Technical Education) pathway at Warren High School next year. The department has an increased online presence. They even have a few new trucks forthcoming.

“We’ve done a lot as far as moving the fire department forward,” said Hurlock.

As chief, Hurlock says he based his leadership style on the “four arenas of leadership,” being leading in an organization, team, relationships, and self-leadership. He encourages those he leads to hold themselves to a higher standard.

“I drive that home to the membership, that we’re leaders just by virtue of being in the fire service,” said Hurlock. “Everything we do in the fire service revolves around some sort of leadership.

“I drive home that in order to be proficient at the first three [arenas], you have to master being a leader of yourself. My message has always been self-accountability; hold yourself to a level of accountability that’s higher than what everybody else will hold you to.”

Hurlock entered the fire service later than most do. After work as an electrical contractor slowed due to the recession in the mid 1990’s, Hurlock was persuaded by friends already in the career to give it a try.

“I had some friends that were firefighters; a couple in Downey, another in West Covina. I went on ride-alongs with all of them,” said Hurlock. “They thought I’d fit great into the fire service, so they talked me into starting to test.”

Hurlock says it was his naturally competitive nature that made the career perfect for him.

“You do have to have a certain type of personality,” said Hurlock. “Fire service is very competitive. I played competitive sports all my life. I’m a competitive person. Winning’s not the most important thing, but I do like to win, and so I’m super competitive.

“Everything in the fire service is super competitive; to get a job is super competitive. When I applied in Downey, I competed against 900 people to get a job.”

He also enjoyed the physical aspect.

“I love doing physical things. Construction was physical. I played sports all my life. Doing electrical work was physical, climbing up and down ladders, walking on roofs,” said Hurlock. “I just like doing things that are physical, so it seemed like the fire service was a natural fit for me.”

Hurlock got sponsored into the Rio Hondo Fire Academy. Upon graduation, we worked as a volunteer as an auxiliary in Santa Fe Springs and Downey, before eventually being hired by the latter in 2000.

But just staying put in Downey Fire’s ranks for too long was never an option. Due to his age and desire to provide for his family, he pursued promotion immediately when eligible.

“I was 34 when I got hired, which is old for a firefighter to get hired. Normally firefighters get hired in their early 20’s, mid 20’s,” said Hurlock. “For me, I already had a family established, so starting in a new career as a rookie firefighter was a little bit different.”

He continued,

“I didn’t want to just sit back and cruise through being a firefighter, because I had a family so I wanted to promote as fast as I could so I could make as much money as I could. As soon as I was eligible, I started studying to take engineers exams.”

While he would never make engineer, passing the engineer’s test would qualify him to pursue a promotion to captain, which he would receive in 2012. In 2014, he promoted even further, to battalion chief.

When former chief Mark Gillespie announced his retirement in 2020, it was Hurlock who would be tapped to take over the department.

When he was hired, Hurlock says he wanted to try and make his career last 25 years, which would be in April next year. After careful consideration, he decided now was the time.

As he prepares to enter the next stage of his life, Hurlock says he doesn’t have any regrets, calling it a “great career.” He looks forward to settling down, with no real plans except to spend time with family, especially visiting his two daughters who have since moved out of state with their own families.

“We’ll see how retirement goes and make some long-term plans in a couple months or so,” said Hurlock.

Downey Fire has the advantage of being able to promote from within. Looking at his possible successors, Hurlock is confident in the department’s future.

“There’s two candidates that are qualified and more than capable of doing the job,” said Hurlock. “I think the department will be in good shape if either one of them gets selected.

“I think both of the qualified candidates are more than capable of moving in and handling this job, and taking the fire department to the next level. The place we’re out now with everybody’s mindset of leadership and self-accountability, it’s primed for doing whatever the next big project is, or the next big thing for the fire department.”