Amador County – The new California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection chief for the region that includes Amador County was inducted in April, with a badge pinning ceremony at the region’s Camino headquarters.

Teri Mizuhara, Fire Prevention Specialist 2 with the Unit Headquarters announced the badge pinning plans in April. The new Unit Chief for the Amador-El Dorado-Sacramento-Alpine Unit of Cal Fire was pinned April 18th at the Camino Headquarters Administrative office. Northern Unit Chief Bill Holmes performed the badge pinning ceremony on new Unit Chief Kelly Keenan.

Before the ceremony, Holmes in a release said “Chief Keenan’s varied experiences give him the tools to lead (the Amador-El Dorado-Sacramento Unit) and serve the citizens of the state. I’m sure he will build on the successes of his predecessors as I did and I’m proud to have someone of Kelly’s caliber to replace me.”

Mizuhara said Chief Keenan began his career in Cal Fire in 1986 as a Forestry Assistant II on the Jackson Demonstration State Forest. In 1988, he was promoted to Forester I in the Nevada-Yuba-Placer Unit and in 1998, was promoted to Forester II. While at Nevada-Yuba-Placer, he held positions as Area Forester, Vegetation Management Program Coordinator, Unit Forester and Interim Unit Administrative Officer.

In 2004, Keenan accepted an Assistant Chief position in the Amador-El Dorado Unit as North Division Operations Chief, which included responsibility for Growlersburg Conservation Camp. During his 25-year career with Cal Fire, he has been involved with a variety of assignments, working groups and cadres in both the Resource Management and Fire Protection programs and worked cooperatively with numerous state, federal and local government agencies.

Since 2003, Keenan has served on Cal Fire Incident Command Teams in a variety of positions including Planning Section Chief and Deputy Incident Commander. He is currently the Incident Commander of ICT Number 1.

While Deputy Incident Commander on ICT Number 10, Keenan was directly involved with some of California’s most challenging wildfires and disasters. Keenan holds a Bachelor of Science Degree from Cal Poly State University, is a Peace Officer and a Registered Professional Forester.

He lives in Cool with his wife Chris and his son Conor and his daughter Alanna attends graduate school at the University of Nevada in Las Vegas.

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