By Janene Scully, Noozhawk North County Editor | @JaneneScully
May 12, 2021
| 8:13 p.m.
Eighteen years after giving up an engineering career and getting hired as a firefighter, Todd Tuggle has been chosen to lead the Santa Maria Fire Department.
Todd Tuggle
On Wednesday, City Manager Jason Stilwell announced that he had named Tuggle as fire chief, effective last Saturday.
A badge-pinning ceremony is scheduled during the City Council meeting on Tuesday.
It’s a different career than Tuggle had after graduating from Cal Poly in 1996 with an engineering degree, but he hasn’t looked back.
“I’ve never doubted it for a moment,” he said of the switch. “It’s been the most fulfilling, amazing, challenging (job). It’s never been dull from day one.”
–Atascadero Fire & Emergency Services on Tuesday announced the recent appointment of two new battalion chief officers.
Atascadero Fire Captain Matt Miranda was recently promoted to fire battalion chief of operations. The position was vacated last year when former Battalion Chief Bill White retired from the fire service. Captain Miranda had been serving as interim battalion chief and was selected by Fire Chief Casey Bryson after an internal testing process.
Miranda began his fire service career as a reserve firefighter with Atascadero in 1999. He was hired full-time with the department as a firefighter in 2001. Miranda later earned a Bachelor of Science in Occupation Studies from Cal State Long Beach while working full-time. After two years, he was promoted to fire engineer then became a fire captain for the department in 2009. Miranda has been involved with a variety of programs during his time with Atascadero, perhaps most notably in department training. He is a founding member
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Widling left Montecito in 1991 to spend the next 23 years rising through the ranks in the Santa Maria City Fire Department to become the operations battalion chief in 2011. In 2015, he returned to the Montecito Fire Department as a shift battalion chief; and in July 2019 he was promoted to the division chief – operations position.
Widling has been an instructor for Allan Hancock College Fire Academy since the late 1990s and achieved the level of confined space rescue technician - senior instructor with State Fire Training in 2008.
Widling participated in the Urban Search and Rescue (US&R) program and currently serves as the chairperson for Santa Barbara County US&R Regional Task Force (RTF-12) and as deputy chairperson for the California Statewide US&R RTF Working Group, which is made up of all 12 of the state’s RTFs.
Montecito Fire Department
MONTECITO, Calif. - Montecito Fire Department Division Chief – Operations Alan Widling announced plans to retire at the end of December after 31 years of service.
Chief Widling was hired as a full-time firefighter by the Montecito Fire Department in September of 1989, after beginning as a private ambulance paramedic and Reserve Firefighter for the Santa Maria City Fire Department.
Widling left Montecito a few years later in 1991 to spend the next 23 years rising through the ranks in the Santa Maria City Fire Department, becoming the Operations Battalion Chief in 2011.
In 2015, Widling returned to the Montecito Fire Department as a Shift Battalion Chief, and in July of 2019, was promoted to the Division Chief – Operations position.
Allan Hancoock College
SANTA MARIA, Calif. - Allan Hancock College Fire Academy Coordinator Andy Densmore is retiring after more than 30 years of service with the academy. Hundreds of firefighters who trained at the academy have gone on to work for local agencies and beyond.
“Andy is a legend in the firefighting community,” said Mitch McCann, associate dean for Hancock’s Public Safety Training Complex (PSTC) in Lompoc. “His leadership has impacted our entire college and will be missed by not only the men and women of public safety training but the entire firefighting community.”
Densmore graduated from Hancock s fire academy in 1978. He spent 30 years as a firefighter for Lompoc Fire Department.