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@HillsboroFire
Hillsboro Fire and Rescue selected Jeff Gurske to lead the department as its deputy chief of administration. Effective September 14, 2020, Deputy Chief Gurske oversees the Fire Prevention and Investigation Division, logistics, capital projects, technical services, and communications. More than two dozen candidates from across the nation applied.
Fire Chief David Downey states, “You need a person who can build relationships with internal and external stakeholders in non-emergency response environments. That is a big change from the traditionally-recognized emergency response experiences most chief officers are accustomed to. Chief Gurske has the leadership and management skills needed to accomplish the ‘pre-911 call’ work imperative to our success.”
Gurske has more than 21 years of fire service experience with the last 15 serving Hillsboro Fire and Rescue. Beginning as a volunteer firefighter, he promoted through the ranks in positions including engineer, captain, lieutenant, and most recently, division chief.
His focus areas are strengthening relationships within the City of Hillsboro and community organizations, increasing consistency and reliability when responding to emergency calls, and implementing best practices in data use and analysis from problem-solving to servant leadership.
“When most people think of a fire and rescue department, they imagine the firefighters that respond to calls. However, fire and rescue is a much larger team to reduce community risk and increase reliability when responding to community needs. All of these fire department divisions are imperative for our overall success as a public safety agency. Every member is an important part of this delivery,” said Gurske.
His connection to the community runs deep, spending more than 14 years leading the nonprofit Hillsboro Firefighters Random Acts, two years as a leader of the NW Fire Diversity Council, and six years as president of International Orphan Care.
Deputy Chief Gurske lives in the community he serves with his wife and three children. He is located at Hillsboro Fire and Rescue Station 1 in downtown Hillsboro.
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