Jeff Meston

Jeff Meston is a third generation firefighter who is the current Executive Director of the California Fire Chiefs Association (CFCA) and a past President of the CFCA.  He is a 45 year plus veteran of the fire service working for a County, City, Special District, Private Fire Department, Tribal Fire Department, and the State of California Fire Agencies. He has a conceptual talent for seeing “the big picture,” pinpointing an organizational objective, setting goals, and identifying priorities to achieve it.  He has extensive practical leadership experience in a wide variety of Fire, EMS and Emergency Preparedness organizations. He is collaborative and participatory in his approach to leadership, and he has outstanding interpersonal communication skills. Jeff has the ability to maintain a balanced, objective viewpoint in addressing problems and has proven success in changing a fire agency’s culture.

During his Fire Service career, Jeff successfully upgraded the volunteer firefighter program in two jurisdictions, and implemented the annual master planning session for Northern CA Training Officers, CA Fire Chiefs, Novato Fire District and South Lake Tahoe Fire Rescue. He administered a comprehensive disaster preparedness program that interfaced with the City and the County. Jeff also co-authored and implemented a Career Development Guide that was successfully negotiated with labor in two jurisdictions which focused on succession planning.

As a consultant, Jeff assisted with development of Promotional Testing for numerous agencies, a Fire Department Master Plan, and completed a study on the delivery of EMS. He facilitated an audit of the Fire Services Master Plan. Jeff served as Fire Service Consultant for many agencies, including working as a liaison between several insurance companies on wildfire risk.He has developed and field tested Quality Improvement Program for the for the State of CA Fire Service Training and Education System. Jeff implemented a cultural change program that was recognized with an Internatioanl Fire Chief Association Excellence Award. He also served as the Executive Director of the California State Firefighter’s Association.

Jeff holds a MPA in public administration and an associate degree in Fire Science.  He is a California Certified Fire Chief & National Fire Academy EFO.  He has served as President of the Marin County and Lake Tahoe Regional Fire Chiefs Associations.  Meston has served as a course developer and instructor at NFA residency programs and for CFSTES. Meston served as the Acting City Manager for South Lake Tahoe as well as its Fire Chief.  Meston also served on the Board of Directors for FIRESCOPE and has served as the Executive Director for the CSFA. He served as a Deputy Chief working for CalOES Fire/Rescue on a variety of tasks. Meston also serves on the University of California San Diego WIFIRE Convergence Advisory Board, the First Responders Health Foundation Board and has been consulting in the fire service space for 35 years in fire administration, cultural change, planning and leadership. Meston was named to the inaugural class of the California Fire Chiefs Association Hall of Fame in 2023.