3 fire captains in South Tahoe to be promoted

Three captains in the South Lake Tahoe Fire Department are being promoted to shift commander, a new position since the rank of battalion chief was done away with (and those three positions eliminated) when the City Council approved the 2011-12 budget.

Jim Drennan, Rob Hembree and Dan Sullivan will be officially promoted Nov. 21 at 2:30pm at the city offices at Lake Tahoe Airport.

They report directly to the fire chief, a position being filled this fiscal year by Police Chief Brian Uhler.

This link provides a job description of what is expected of the men and their salary range.  This reflects a boost in pay of 10 percent from what they were making as captains.

Drennan has been with South Tahoe since December 2002, having started as a reserve two years before that. He has lived in the area since 1989. Drennan is also an instructor at the Lake Tahoe Community College Fire Academy.

Hembree also started his fire career as a reserve before joining the department full time in 2002. He moved to South Tahoe in 1995.

Sullivan is a South Tahoe High grad and one of the original EMS coordinators. He has been with the department since 1999, serving as a reserve three years prior to that.

A position still to be dealt within the department is that of fire marshal. Ray Zachau, as battalion chief, was also fire marshal. And he still is. Even though his job was eliminated last month, city officials have not determined when his last day is. They city also has not posted the job of fire marshal.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report