New Fire Chief Talks About His Vision for the District

On April 1, The Scotts Valley Fire Protection District’s newest fire chief, Dan Grebil, took over office. Grebil, who has 31 years of experience in fire service, was chosen for the job out of 37 applicants to replace outgoing Chief Mike McMurry, who retired at the end of March after 35 years of service in the Scott Valley district.

Grebil began his career in his hometown of Tracy as a volunteer fire fighter. From there he was offered a full-time position with the city of Tracy’s fire department where he worked his way through the ranks as a lieutenant, captain and battalion chief before deciding he was ready to be a chief somewhere.

He eventually settled in Ukiah, in Mendocino County, where he oversaw that district for 16 years. After raising three sons, ages 25, 23, 18, Grebil and his wife of 27 years decided it was time for another change and landed in Scott Valley.

Read about the chief’s experience in his first month and what he has in mind for the district going forward.

Scotts Valley Patch: You’ve been on the job for one month now. How has it been so far?

Chief Dan Grebil: Long days but a very supportive staff and a really supportive community. I have been attending as many meeting as I can–city council, chamber mixers, water district. It’s been just a lot of getting out trying to meet people and get a feel for the area.

Patch: You had some pretty big shoes to fill replacing Chief McMurry. What will you do to put your own stamp on this job and make it your own?

Grebil: I’m not going to try to fill those big shoes, but what I tell people is that he has laid a good path with those shoes and I am going to try to continue that path. There is no major course that needs to be changed, it’s just getting everyone on board in the community and within the organization of where we want to take the district over the next five years, and get that plan in play.

Patch: How does the Ukiah District compare to the Scott Valley District? 

Grebil: There are a lot of similarities, with the beauty, the forestation and vegetation. I think the big difference is that Ukiah had a separate city fire department and the fire district. [The two cities] are both actually about the same size. The city of Scott Valley is about a 4 1/2-square-mile radius and so is the city of Ukiah. The fire district here overlays the city and then expands about 22 1/2-square miles. In Ukiah, they have their 4 1/2-square miles and we surrounded them by about 80-square miles.

I like this service model a lot. I think the single-service, special district is a very efficient way of providing very focused service.

Patch: What was it about Scott Valley that drew you here?

Grebil: I think just an equally beautiful area, and a time in my life and career to relocate. Plus, it’s just a more complex fire department and they provide more services, more career staff and all.

Patch: What are some of the short-term goals you are focusing on?

Grebil: Really just to come in and learn the culture, learn the organization, identify the strengths and weaknesses of it. On my first day on the job I put out a survey to everyone in the organization asking three questions: What do we do well? What three things can we do better? And if you were fire chief for a day, what would you change? I received those answers back from everyone and so I’m sorting through that. There are things that are commonalities that are emerging that I am going to start working on.

Patch: And how about your long-term goals?

Grebil: Working with the staff and the Board to identify some priorities that they want to start working on. The downturn in the economy is still affecting us. The budget is based on property taxes and those are still recessed right now and so we are dealing with a budget that hasn’t caught up to where it was prior to 2008.

Patch: What are some of the biggest challenges you foresee in your new job?

Grebil: Continuing to provide the excellent fire protection services that we provide with escalating costs and the revenue not matching those costs. I don’t want to diminish the service we provide, so how do we maintain these while not having that continued increase in the budget.

Patch: What are you most looking forward to in this new position?

Grebil: Getting out and meeting new people and building those longer term relationships that are necessary for a new chief to be successful, both internally and externally.

Patch: What do you think about the Scott Valley community and what do you like about being here?

Grebil: I’ve received a really warm welcome and received some really nice letters and notes from people welcoming me to the community. I really get a sense of a close-knit, warm community. I grew up in a small town and I like the small town atmosphere and feel that Scott Valley has.