Glendale’s fire chief, Gray, moves to new area

Retirement for Glendale Fire Chief Christopher R. Gray won’t mean a life of leisure. When he leaves his post on Aug. 30, the 50-year-old San Fernando Valley native will move to northern California to become fire chief in San Rafael.

It’s hardly surprising that Chief Gray won’t be leaving behind the world of fire engines, raging fires and fire-related emergencies. Firefighting and service to others has been Gray’s life since he – at the age of three – announced to his parents that he wanted to be a fire chief.

“I don’t think of it as a career, I think of it as a calling, and it’s been more than satisfying,” Gray said, as he reflected on his 30 years of firefighting, including about six years as Glendale’s fire chief. “When you think back on your life, you think, why are we here? What are we doing? It’s all about service to others,” he said. “Hopefully along the way you help some folks.”

Gray was born in Albuquerque, but grew up in Pasadena, where he graduated from Pasadena’s La Salle High School in 1975. After earning a degree in fire technology from Pasadena City College, he took a firefighter position in Farmington, N.M., where he worked for about one year. Preferring the warm winters of southern California, Gray returned to his homeland and worked as a firefighter, and eventually as captain, for the Pasadena Fire Department.

In 1986, he was offered the job of Battalion Chief for the Glendale Fire Department. He became its chief in 2001.

Gray’s fascination with firefighting began when he was a small child. He was one of four children, and said he enjoyed having a May birthday because the date often fell on Fire Service Day. Because of that, his parents often took him to the fire department to celebrate his birthday. “I loved that. I always knew I wanted to be a fire chief. There was nothing else I wanted to do,” he added.