NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – Scott Upton has been named the new chief of Cal Fire's Sonoma-Lake-Napa Unit.
Cal Fire Director Ken Pimlott announced Upton's promotion on Friday.
Upton began his fire service career in 1983, as a volunteer firefighter with the Town of Paradise Fire Department, ultimately becoming a permanent fire fighter for the town.
In 2002, Upton accepted a position with Cal Fire as a Fire Captain B in the Conservation Camp Program, working at both Devils’ Garden Camp in the Lassen Modoc Unit and Ishi Camp in the Tehama Glenn Unit.
In 2007, Upton transferred to the Butte Unit where he served as an air tactical group supervisor at Chico Air Attack Base.
He accepted a promotion in the Sonoma-Lake-Napa Unit to battalion chief in 2009 and again in 2012 to assistant chief, where he was designated as the Napa County Fire chief overseeing the cooperative agreement with Napa County.
In addition to his operational responsibilities, Upton was instrumental in developing the “C” certifier faller curriculum and also served as a member on the Department’s Safety Officer instructional cadre.
He has served as a Type 1 Safety Officer on Cal Fire Incident Command Team 3 and is currently assigned as Incident Commander Trainee on Cal Fire Incident Management Team 6.
Eric Hoffman, who became the Sonoma-Lake-Napa Unit chief at the start of January 2013, has since been promoted to assistant chief of Cal Fire's Northern Region, which oversees 12 units, including the Sonoma-Lake-Napa Unit.