After decades of service to the public, Contra Costa County fire chief to retire

CONCORD — A fire exploration program at 14 sparked a lifelong career for Contra Costa County Fire Protection District Fire Chief Lewis Broschard. Decades later, he is stepping down from years of service to the public.

While a student in college, Broschard started his career with the UC Davis Fire Department. He later volunteered for the Cordelia Fire Protection District in Solano County, where he would become its fire chief.

In 2007, Broschard joined the Contra Costa County Fire Protection District as a fire inspector before rising through the ranks. He was appointed chief in 2019.

“In some form or fashion, I’ve been doing fire for a very long period of time, and it is a bittersweet sort of ending at this point, you know, almost 39 years of some form of participation in the fire service,” Broschard said in an interview with this news organization.

Broschard, who will officially retire on March 30, said “it was a good time” for the district to transition to new leadership.

“The fire district is in a very good spot, and I think that it was a natural time to make that transition,” Broschard said. “You never want to make a transition that benefits just you, but not the organization.”

Under Broschard’s leadership, the district, also known as ConFire, annexed the East Contra Costa Fire Protection District and Rodeo-Hercules Fire Protection District.

During Broschard’s time with the district, it entered into a contract for service with the city of Pinole, increased staffing in operations and fire prevention, established a firefighting hand crew program dedicated to wildland and vegetation fires, rebuilt several fire stations, and launched a seasonal aerial firefighting helicopter program.

As assistant fire chief of support services, the district implemented an apparatus replacement program in 2014, ensuring equipment used by the district was no more than 10 years old, a national standard that “is very difficult to meet,” according to Broschard.

“We don’t have old equipment; we have cutting-edge state-of-the-art equipment to match our members who are serving the public,” he said.

The pandemic brought new challenges, particularly in emergency medical services.

“It’s as if 2020 was just a massive reset button for EMS, and ever since COVID, there’s been a multitude of factors that have made the EMS system a significant challenge,” said Broschard.

An increased demand for 911 calls, supply chain issues, and difficulties in recruiting and retaining paramedics were among the issues faced by the district.

While things “are starting to get better,” said Broschard, the struggles in homeowners’ insurance renewal due to wildfires are another challenge for ConFire.

“We don’t control the insurance environment, but what we do control is the ability to perform certain mitigation projects and get homeowners to take care of their own property,” Broschard said. “But that doesn’t necessarily guarantee that anything will improve on the insurance side.”

As homeowners across the state struggle with skyrocketing premiums or coverage loss, Broschard sees a long-term “detrimental impact” to the housing market, which could eventually hit property tax revenues — the “economic engine” for fire districts.

Over the last several years, ConFire has “invested heavily” in its response capabilities for wildland and vegetation fires with its contract aerial firefighting helicopter program, which runs during the summer, and has increased the number of wildland fire engines.

The district also maintains two bulldozers and staffs one around the clock from June through October and has 18 hand crew personnel deployed throughout the summer fire season.

“So it’s not just the mitigation work, it’s also the response capability as well,” he said.

A recruitment process is underway for Broschard’s successor, with the district’s Fire Board of Directors expected to make a decision in April.

With retirement around the corner, Broschard said he plans to take his time to figure out what comes next.

“Not looking to jump on board and do any kind of fire chief job or anything like that. I’m looking to do something different,” he said, adding he is looking forward to spending time with his twin sons who are in college.

What he will miss most are people in the organization, said Broschard.

“We are busier than we were, you know, seven years ago, but the people are very resilient and have great attitudes, and I will miss working with them,” he said. “I will miss seeing what they can do when they come up with an idea or a project, and you set them free, and they’re able to carry out that project for the betterment of the organization.”