Ventura County Fire Chief Dustin Gardner leads an all-hazards fire department of 658 personnel with primary responsibility for about 850,000 of the people living in Ventura County.

Gardner was promoted to chief in February 2022 after working his way through the ranks of the department, including supervision of all five bureaus of VCFD’s daily operation. He has experience with incident command and regional coordination on large scale emergencies, including the Thomas Fire, Easy Fire and the Borderline shooting.

Gardner is the 12^th fire chief in the department’s 95-year history. This year, he oversaw the introduction of rescue ambulances into VCFD operations, providing additional ambulances when the existing emergency response system is overwhelmed.

He will speak on Fire prevention during the high risk season. Remapping of high risk areas and hardening of the home.