HFD’s Sam Peña named metro fire chief of the year

HOUSTON – Houston Fire Department announced Monday that its fire chief, Sam Peña, was named the 2023 Metropolitan Fire Chief of the Year awarded by International Association of Fire Chiefs and National Fire Protection Association.

According to the social media post, he will also serve on the 2023 Metro Executive Board.

Peña a 28-year veteran of the fire service and has been chief of the Houston Fire Department since Dec. 19, 2016. Peña leads the third largest municipal fire department in the country with approximately 3,900 personnel and an annual budget of over $559 million. He previously served three years nine months as fire chief in El Paso, Texas.

According to the HFD website, Peña completed his paramedic training at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center EMS Division in 1998. He served previously as Task Force leader for the El Paso Hazardous Materials Team and Special Rescue team; coordinator for the combined search and rescue (ComSAR) mountain rescue team; Strategic Planning Chief, Public Information Office, Training Chief, and Assistant Chief of Emergency Operations. Chief Peña has served in the City of Houston Unified Command directing the Houston Fire Department assets during Hurricane Harvey, Tropical Storm Imelda, Tropical Storm Beta, Hurricane Nicholas, Winter Storm Uri, Super Bowl 51, World Series 2017, 2019, 2021, and the Watson Grinding explosion in 2020.

Peña holds a Bachelor’s degree in criminal justice and a Master’s in Business Administration from the University of Texas at El Paso, and served four years as a command and control specialist in the U.S. Air Force.

Peña has membership in the International Association of Fire Chiefs; IAFC Terrorism and Homeland Security Committee; Metropolitan Fire Chiefs Association, National Fire Protection Association and the National Association of Search and Rescue.