Harris County Fire Marshal

Although he now coordinates more than 50 fire departments, Harris County Fire Marshal Mike Montgomery began his career in emergency services 25 years ago with the Cy-Fair Volunteer Fire Department.

Originally from New Mexico, Montgomery moved to Houston while in elementary school. He later attended Texas A&M University and Lone Star College, where he received degrees in business administration and fire science, respectively.

After several years of working in the oil and gas industry, Montgomery made the switch to emergency services in 1987 when he was searching for a way to give back to the community. While riding his bike past a Cy-Fair VFD station, Montgomery noticed a sign asking for volunteers. He joined the department as a trainee, moved up to assistant chief of suppression and board of directors, and is still a lifetime member.

Since Montgomery became a firefighter, the biggest challenge has been setting aside personal feelings to take care of the job, he said. Over the past decade, Montgomery has served the Houston area during Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Ike. Additionally, he went to New York City following 9/11 to serve on the Texas Task Force 1 Urban Search Rescue Team at the World Trade Center.

Montgomery is also a member of several organizations such as the International Association of Fire Chiefs, State Firemen's and Fire Marshal's Association and the Lone Star College System Fire Advisory Committee.

What are your main roles as Harris County Fire Marshal?

We're responsible for fire prevention, code enforcement, investigation of fires and emergency response–primarily to incidents that involve hazardous materials. We also provide training to fire departments and community groups. One thing that's become more important during times of disasters is that we help coordinate the actions of the various fire departments in the county.

What is the biggest challenge in working with the county's emergency services districts?

There really is no challenge, because they are all so good to work with. They truly do represent the communities and neighborhoods they serve. This makes it rewarding to work with the ESD's, because they understand the needs of their community. I'm a firm believer in the ESD system. It works very well in Harris County.

Is it possible to foresee if Harris County will be put under another burn ban this summer?

A burn ban is a last resort that we do for precautionary reasons only, because we realize it inconveniences people in the county. If we see a repeat of the drought conditions we saw last year, then yes, citizens can expect to see another burn ban put in place. It will take a combination of dry weather and an increase in the number and severity of fires before we recommend the implementation of another burn ban.

What are some of the biggest challenges in Cy-Fair related to emergency services?

It's long-range planning, like where do new stations need to be located? How can we get the best value for the customers they serve? Do they invest in new fire trucks, or more people? I think the challenge is population growth and mobility, but in a nutshell it's developing those long-range plans necessary to meet the needs of a growing community. The second challenge is that we go from very densely populated areas to pockets where there are rural populations. It means fire departments need to know how to respond to a structure fire in a subdivision or commercial area with strip centers, but they also need to know how to respond to a large grass or woods fire.

What are some precautions your office takes to keep Harris County safe from wildfires?

We just finished a community wildfire protection plan, which is a joint effort with the Texas Forest Service. Part one is an overall risk assessment of the communities in the county. The greatest risk from wildfires is clearly in the north and western areas such as Spring, Rosehill and Cypress. Phase two, which is just now starting, is a public education program based upon a program called Ready, Set, Go, an initiative of the International Association of Fire Chiefs. We are fortunate that we have good fire departments and resources that were able to get to those fires [last summer] quickly. The largest fires we had happened in sparsely populated areas like George Bush Park and the Addicks Reservoir. Even though they were close to subdivisions, they were far enough away that firefighters could react, respond and extinguish the fires before we lost houses or other structures.

What is your proudest accomplishment as fire marshal?

I'm very proud of the work that has been accomplished by the staff in the Harris County Fire Marshal's Office and what they do everyday to make Harris County a better and safer place to live. Also, following Hurricane Katrina, our goal for 21 days was to help these people return to some sort of normalcy. Because of that, I think this community was better prepared for Hurricane Ike and other natural disasters.