New Fire Chief for Santa Monica

By Jorge Casuso

Oct. 6 -- Jim Hone -- a 23-year veteran of the Santa Monica Fire Department and a leading expert on search and rescue -- has been named the City's new fire chief, City Manager Susan McCarthy announced Monday.

A strong, quiet leader who has made frequent appearances before the City Council as the department's assistant chief and fire marshal, Hone brings 30 years’ experience in the fire service to the post vacated when Chief Ettore Berardinelli retired earlier this year.

"Chief Hone has been part of the Santa Monica fire-fighting community for more than two decades and has developed a solid reputation for the breadth of his knowledge and experience in the fire service," McCarthy said.

"I know that he will step into Chief Berardinelli’s shoes without a misstep because he has, by mastering and advancing through the ranks, earned the respect of his fellow firefighters and citizens throughout our community."

Following the World Trade Center attack two years ago, Hone went to New York City as a division supervisor charged with overseeing 100 rescue workers from California. There, he served for ten days as an advisor to the Fire Department of New York battalion chief in charge of rescue efforts.

Hone also helped lead the search and rescue efforts following the 1995 bombing of the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, spending two weeks helping coordinate disaster response.

Known as a disciplinarian Hone, who sports a crew cut, began his fire-fighting career three decades ago with U.S. Air Force Fire Protection Branch, where he rose from firefighter to assistant chief of training.

Hone began his Santa Monica fire service in 1980 as a firefighter/paramedic, was promoted to fire captain/paramedic in 1983 and in 1988 became the hazardous materials captain.

Named assistant fire chief and fire marshal in 1995, Hone oversaw the Santa Monica Fire Department’s Fire Prevention Division and Hazardous Materials Response and Urban Search and Rescue programs.

“It is a tremendous honor and privilege to be able to serve our Fire Department, city and community as Fire Chief,” Hone said in a prepared statement. “I look forward to the opportunities we will encounter in the future and the accomplishments we will achieve together.”

Hone graduated from Wayland Baptist College (now University) in Texas with a bachelor of science degree in business management after earning his associate’s degree in fire science from the Community College of the Air Force.

He has earned certifications from the California State Board of Fire Services as chief officer and fire officer, and also as a hazardous materials technician by the state Fire Service Training & Education System.

A trainer and instructor, Hone is affiliated with numerous fire and emergency service agencies, including the California Office of Emergency Services, the Los Angeles Area Fire Marshal’s Association, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Urban Search and Rescue Response System.

Hone and his wife Linda, who have been married 17 years, live in Santa Monica.