Chief McGovern started his fire service career in 1991 as an Emergency Transport Technician (ETT) with the San Clemente Fire Department and made the transition to the OCFA in 1994, with the transition of the San Clemente Fire Department. During the time while working on the Emergency Transports, Chief McGovern attended the Santa Ana Basic Fire Academy and attended Paramedic School at Saddleback College in 1993.
In 1994, Chief McGovern was hired by the Garden Grove Fire Department (GGFD) as a Firefighter/Paramedic. He worked his way through the ranks of Firefighter/Paramedic, Fire Captain, Battalion Chief, Operations Chief, and Interim Fire Chief, prior to the GGFD’s transition to the OCFA.
During his tenure with the GGFD, Chief McGovern spent 8 years with CAL FIRE Incident Management Teams (IMT) and spent 4 years with the Orange County All Hazards IMT, serving in the Plans Section. Chief McGovern also holds a bachelor’s degree in Fire Administration.
Since the transition to the OCFA, Chief McGovern has worked at Battalion 11, Battalion 6, Emergency Duty Officer (EDO) assigned to the ECC, and most currently as the Emergency Command Center Division Chief.
Current role