The City of Reno says Fire Chief Michael Hernandez will retire from his position effective August 12th of this year. The announcement comes after Hernandez was not selected for a job in Plano, Texas on Tuesday. Hernandez was placed on an indefinite period of vacation from the City of Reno while he was interviewing for the position in Texas.
On Tuesday, the City of Plano's executive staff chose Sam Grief of Fort Worth, Texas to be the City's next fire chief.
The Dallas Morning News had reported that Hernandez was one of 42 applicants from 19 states for the position.
In a statement from the city of Reno, Hernandez said "After careful consideration and discussions with the City Manager, I have elected to retire,” Hernandez says. “I have enjoyed my years serving the citizens of the City of Reno and will continue to pursue other opportunities in the future.”
Last month the City of Reno announced that Hernandez was taking a vacation from City duties “for an indefinite period of time.”
Hernandez joined the Corpus Christi, Texas Fire Department in 1982 and rose to the rank of Deputy Chief before being selected as Reno's Fire Chief in 2010.
Reno City Manager Andrew Clinger has named Chief Dave Cochran as the acting Reno Fire Chief until a permanent Chief is selected. The city says Cochran has more than 17 years of experience with the Reno Fire Department. They say he was hired as a firefighter in April 1998, and was then promoted to the rank of Fire Equipment Operator in 2006, Captain in 2007, and Division Chief in 2012.
