Jeff Meston

Jeff has over 44 years of experience in the Fire Service, including over 30 years as Chief Officer, including serving as Fire Chief in three California Fire Departments.  He served in numerous capacities for the Novato Fire Protection District, including Battalion, Division, Assistant, and Fire Chief.  He also served as the Executive Director of the California State Firefighter’s Association. Jeff is a committed professional with a proven track record of success.  He has a conceptual talent for seeing “the big picture,” pinpointing an organizational objective, setting goals, and identifying priorities to achieve it.

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 has served as a program developer and instructor for management courses at the National Fire Academy and CA State Fire Academy and was a guest speaker and instructor for the Fire Department Instructors Conference, CA Fire Chiefs Association, CA Special Districts Association, Fire Districts of CA, and the International Association of Fire Chiefs.  Jeff pioneered a public access defibrillator program for the community, including establishing a non-profit foundation for the Fire District. He led the task force to implement Ethics Training for the CA State Fire Marshal’s Office Statewide.  Jeff led three significant revisions of two jurisdictions Emergency Medical Service delivery system at the NFPD and CSLT.  He administered a comprehensive disaster preparedness program that interfaced with the City and the County in two jurisdictions. The plan included emergency response, citizen preparedness, and joint emergency operations management. Jeff also co-authored and implemented a Career Development Guide that was successfully negotiated with labor in two jurisdictions which focused on succession planning.

Jeff has provide services in multiple capacities, including as an advocate for CA Fire Chief Certification, for the Board of Directors for FIRESCOPE 2014-2019, serving two terms on the Statewide Training and Education Committee (STEAC) as the Emergency Operations Manager for the City of South Lake Tahoe, on the CA Statewide Alert & Warning Guidelines Committee, Cal OES, as the Acting City Manager for the City of South Lake Tahoe and was past President for the CA Fire Chiefs Association.  He was the first certificated Firefighter II in the State of California.

As a consultant, Jeff assisted with development of Promotional Testing for numerous agencies, a Fire Department Master Plan for the City of Petaluma, and completed a study for the Santa Cruz County Fire Chiefs on the delivery of EMS.  He facilitated an audit of the Fire Services Master Plan for the County of Sonoma Fire.  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.