Courtesy, City of Las Vegas
Las Vegas city councilmen Stavros Anthony, left background, and Steve Ross, center background, laugh as Mayor Oscar Goodman pins a badge on the lapel of Mike Myers, the city’s new fire chief, at a swearing-in ceremony for Myers during the city council meeting Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2011, at City Hall.
Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2011 | 12:22 p.m.
Las Vegas Fire Chief Mike Myers
Sun Coverage
- Deputy chief to lead fire department in January (10-6-2011)
With a ceremonial welcome by the Las Vegas City Council, Mike Myers was officially sworn in Wednesday as the city's new fire chief.
Myers, who was given the oath by Mayor Oscar Goodman, will oversee 18 fire stations and more than 650 employees.
The employees provide fire suppression and fire investigations, handle emergency medical services, investigate hazardous materials incidents and bomb squad events, provide technical rescue operations, fire prevention and life safety education, and also staff the 911 fire and EMS call center.
Goodman also pinned the badge on Myers, who is replacing former Chief Greg Gannon. Gannon retired from the post earlier this month.
"This is a very special moment for me," Myers told the mayor, who he walked with during Monday's Martin Luther King Jr. Day parade through downtown.
Myers said his first week on the job was "crazy" and he was heavily dependent on his staff for their support. He also recognized several friends and family members who attended.
"There is nothing more important to these men and woman out here with Las Vegas Fire & Rescue than the protection of our great city's residents, business owners and visitors," Myers said. "And I am proud, absolutely proud, to serve them. This has been a fantastic opportunity."
Myers worked his way through the ranks as a firefighter, paramedic and a fire training officer before being promoted to assistant fire chief in 2002.
From August 2007 through January 2008, he served as interim fire chief.
Since 2007 he had also served as a deputy fire chief responsible for medical services and communications, in which he oversaw an improvement in cardiac arrest patient survivability by more than 40-percent as well as more than 12,527 medical transports in 2009.
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