City of Arlington
Bret Stidham
Bret Stidham has been appointed the city of Arlington’s new fire chief and director of emergency management, the city announced on Thursday.
Stidham, a veteran of 30 years with Dallas Fire-Rescue, will assume his duties Aug. 7. Assistant Fire Chief Jonathan Ingols will continue to serve as the department’s interim chief until then.
Stidham has served as second-in-command with Dallas Fire-Rescue since 2019 and was assistant fire chief of emergency operations and special operations there for two years prior.
“Chief Stidham stood out in a very robust selection process and everyone we spoke with who had the chance to work with him in the City of Dallas had nothing but glowing remarks about his leadership, skills and ability to collaborate,” said City Manager Trey Yelverton, who made the appointment, in a statement.
Stidham was selected from a final list of five candidates from an original pool of about 50 applicants, all vying to replace the retired Chief Don Crowson, who stepped away after a career of 40 years.
“I feel like my 30-year career has led me to this moment. There’s a lot going on in Arlington — it’s a destination city and a city on the grow,” said Stidham, who grew up in North Texas and has visited Arlington’s entertainment attractions on many occasions. “This is a fire chief’s dream job, to be honest.”
Stidham’s experience includes 15 years instructing firefighters at Tarrant County College, Collin College, and Dallas Fire-Rescue as well as serving as rescue team manager for Texas Task Force 1 and Texas Task Force 2.
According to the city, he has many years of operational experience running multiple large incidents and management teams, including a federal medical station that treated Covid-19 patients and a mass vaccination site that provided more than 30,000 Covid-19 vaccinations during the pandemic.
In 2018, he was appointed deputy chief of operations for the state of Texas during Hurricane Harvey and was embedded with the Federal Emergency Management Agency Incident Support Team and the Houston Fire command staff, managing operations for all rescue personnel.
Stidham is a Texas Fire Chiefs Association Certified Fire Executive.
In addition to graduating as a rescue specialist from Texas A&M University, Stidham holds an Associate of Applied Science in fire administration from Weatherford College, a Bachelor of Applied Arts and Sciences in fire administration from Texas A&M University-San Antonio, and a Master of Public Affairs from the University of Texas at Dallas.
He now will soon take over as leader of the city’s 399-person Fire Department and 113-person 911 Dispatch Center.
“You can see the passion they have for the department, for the city, and the fire service,” Stidham said of the members of the department. “I’m very excited about this opportunity, getting out and meeting the men and women of the department, and listening. I’m looking forward to hitting the ground running.”