BEND, OR -- The City of Bend is getting a new Fire Chief.

Todd Riley has served with Bend Fire and Rescue for 16 years, after serving as a firefighter and paramedic in Sacramento. He's been Battalion Chief since April of 2016. As Chief, he's interested in improving the service they already provide. "Bend is continually booming, the streets are getting busier, the streets aren't getting bigger, so we have more cars on our streets, and we have to be able to navigate that to get to calls. Bend is growing up, right? Buildings are getting taller, and as we do that, that presents challenges to our fire fighters, so we need to stay on top of all of those changes." He wants to make sure the community knows the level of service won't change, just because there's a new chief. "The community still comes first. I will make it my mission to place the needs of the community at the forefront, and our Fire Department is here to serve them, and we will continue to be good stewards of the public's money, and continue to be innovative when that makes sense, and ultimately, everything that we do is aimed at the goal of providing excellent customer service."

Riley has more than 20 years of experience as a paramedic and firefighter, Engineer, Captain and Battalion Fire Chief and he's looking forward to continuing to serve the community, in a new capacity. "I feel two things at once. I'm very excited, but I'm also extremely humbled with the opportunity to lead the men and women of the Fire Department. I've worked here a long time and I hold these professionals in such high regard, There's really no better way, at least for me personally, to give back to them, than to be the Fire Chief." 

Riley replaces Chief Larry Langston who will retire October 11th, after serving as Chief since 1994. He'll be Bend Fire and Rescue's 6th Chief in its 100 year history.