Chief Perkins began his firefighting career in 1991 as a Paid Call Firefighter at Fire Station 19, and after graduating from both the Santa Ana Fire Academy and UCLA-Daniel Freeman Paramedic Education Program, he was hired full-time as a Firefighter/Paramedic at OCFA Station 22 in 1999. He promoted through the ranks as an Engineer, Fire Captain, and Crew Chief. Chief Perkins promoted to Battalion Chief in 2013 primarily working in Battalion 4 and Air Operations program manager. Before promoting to Assistant Chief of Operations in 2023 he was the Special Operations Division Chief.
Chief Perkins proactively sought to expand his experience in a variety of positions throughout the organization. In 2006 Chief Perkins joined California Task Force 5 participating as a Rescue Team Manager and Task Force Leader on California Task Force 5. He currently represents OCFA as the Task Force Representative serving as the liaison for FEMA’s program office. In 2009 he became a Crew Chief in the Air Operations Section. His aviation involvement ultimately led him to become an Air Operations Branch Director for Cal Fire Team 4 Incident Management Team from 2013 to 2023. He was selected as FIRESCOPE’s Vice Chair of the Aviation Specialist Group from 2018 to 2020.Chief Perkins also serves on the OCFA Incident Management Team 2 as an Operations Section Chief.
He holds an Associate Degree in Business Administration, another Associate Degree in Science in Fire Technology, and a Bachelor of Science Degree in Occupational Studies from Long Beach State University. Chief Perkins and his wife, Danette, live in San Clemente and have two daughters, Alyssa and Aly.
Current role