This morning, the Torrance Area Chamber of Commerce welcomed Dave Dumais, newly appointed City of Torrance Fire Chief. Board member Keith Hobbs, Torrance Memorial Medical Center introduced Dumais and Chair woman Minal Mondkar led a question and answer session.
Chief Dumais grew up in Torrance and is a graduate of Torrance High School. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree from California State University, Dominguez Hills in Physical Education/Biology, and an Associate of Science Degree from El Camino Community College in Fire Service. Chief Dumais has completed many in-service courses in Emergency Management / Disaster Preparedness and completed the Los Angeles City Fire Department Leadership Academy.
Chief Dumais was hired by the Torrance Fire Department in 1987 and has served as a Firefighter, Fire Investigator, Firefighter Paramedic, Fire Engineer, and Fire Captain. During his tenure as Fire Captain, he provided leadership and direction to two recruit training academies, trained numerous probationary Firefighters and Engineers, was selected to participate in the Incident Command System Task Force to write the Department Incident Command System (ICS) Manual, and wrote the initial Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) training manual.
He was promoted to Battalion Chief in 2003 and served as a Platoon Commander and the Program Director for Hazardous Materials Emergency Response and Specialized Emergency Response programs. In 2006, he was promoted to Deputy Fire Chief with the responsibility to oversee the day-to-day operations of the Department. In 2016, Chief Dumais was assigned as Refinery Safety Coordinator to provide oversight of the Torrance Refinery and the transition from the ExxonMobil Corporation to the Torrance Refining Company, LLC. In 2019, Chief Dumais was assigned to the Community Risk Reduction Division and appointed as Fire Marshal to oversee the Fire/Life Safety and Hazardous Material Administration programs, as well as to provide Management for the Office of Emergency Services. Under Chief Dumais’ leadership, the CRRD Division was recognized by the California Certified Unified Program Agency Forum Board as the 2022 CUPA Participating Agency of the year for the work in Refinery Safety.
Chief Dumais has been a member of the City’s Emergency Preparation Advisory Team working in the areas of Emergency management, EOC activation, secondary EOC development, Exercise design and planning, Hazard Mitigation planning, and critical Infrastructure identification. He is a member of the Governor’s Interagency Refinery Taskforce, and the Southern California Mutual Aid Organization. Chief Dumais was honored to receive the Torrance Unified School District “Golden Apple” award for outstanding partnership with TUSD in 2019. He is an adjunct Fire Technology instructor at El Camino Community College.
Chief Dumais has recently been appointed to represent the California Fire Chiefs’ Association as the Certified Unified Program Agency (CUPA) Forum Board representative for Southern California. During Chief Dumais’ Interim Chief period, he has transitioned the duties and responsibilities of the Office of Emergency Services from the Fire Department to the City Manager’s office and successfully provided direction for a new Memorandum of Understanding with the Torrance Fire Fighters Association.