Thomas C. Ewald

Deputy Fire Chief Thomas C. Ewald has served in the professional fire services for 35 years. Chief Ewald started his career as a firefighter with the City of Cedar Rapids, Iowa Fire Department in 1986. While working in the Midwest, he attended community college and completed paramedic training. Chief Ewald joined the Los Angeles County Fire Department in 1992 where he rose through the ranks serving as firefighter, paramedic, captain, battalion chief, and assistant chief.

Chief Ewald has served as a firefighter paramedic at Universal Studios and West Hollywood; a fire inspector in East Los Angeles; an apparatus engineer in Carson and Pomona; an engine company captain in Southgate and South Los Angeles; a staff captain for the Central Regional Operations Bureau Deputy; a field battalion chief in El Monte, Commerce, Palos Verdes; the chief of Technical Operations, overseeing local, national and international Urban Search and Rescue Operations; assistant chief in Division I, covering the South Bay and Catalina Island, and as the assistant chief, overseeing the Air and Wildland Division.

During his career, Chief Ewald has been called upon to respond to manmade and natural disasters across the county and worldwide with notable incidents, including Hurricane Katrina (New Orleans), Hurricane Dean (Belize), Cyclone Nargis (Camp H.S. Smith Hawaii), 2011 Japan Earthquake and Tsunami (Ofunato) , 2011 New Zealand Earthquake (Christchurch) and 2015 Typhoon Maysak (Micronesia).

In December 2017, Chief Ewald was promoted to the rank of Deputy Fire Chief where he oversaw the Department’s Special Services Bureau consisting of three divisions: Fleet Services, Command and Control, and Construction & Maintenance.

On April 1, 2021, Chief Ewald’s tour of duty ended at Special Services and he assumed command of the Central Regional Operations Bureau. The Central Region is staffed with 900 firefighting personnel who provide fire and EMS services to 22 cities from 55 fire stations; and 750 highly skilled lifeguards who provide ocean rescue services to 11 cities, spanning 72 miles of beaches and Catalina Island.

Chief Ewald holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Fire Prevention Administration from Cogswell Polytechnical College and a Master of Science degree in Leadership from the University of Southern California’s Sol Price School of Public Policy. In 2018, Chief Ewald attended the Senior Executives in State and Local Government Program at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. Chief Ewald is a qualified Type 2 Incident Commander and Type 2 Operation Section Chief and provides leadership to the Department’s Incident Management Team Two.