Garden Grove : Fire Chief Appointed After Nationwide Search

Lon Cahill, the City of Orange’s firefighter of the year in 1978, has been appointed fire chief of Garden Grove after a nationwide search.

Cahill, 46, has been with the Garden Grove Fire Department since April, 1981, when he was appointed administrative division chief and fire marshal. Before that, he served 15 years with the Orange Fire Department and two years as fire marshal for Tustin.

In 1966, Cahill received the Orange Fire Department’s first Award of Merit for saving a life in an apartment fire. In 1978, the state fire marshal appointed him to an eight-member committee to develop fire-prevention curricula.

The new chief holds an associate degree from Santa Ana College and is a student at Cal State Long Beach. He also is a credentialed community college instructor in fire technology and a part-time teacher at Santa Ana College.

City Manager Delbert Powers, in announcing the selection, said Cahill was chosen on the basis of experience, understanding of the department and ability to work as a member of the city’s central management team.

Personnel Director Terry Lantz on Monday said Cahill’s salary will be negotiated this week.

Since the departure of former Chief Douglas Spickard last year, Cahill and Robert Wills, now the department’s division chief of operations, have been acting chiefs.