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A new fire chief has been
selected for the state’s largest fire department and
one of the nation’s most visible.
County Manager Thom Reilly announced that he has
selected Steven M. Smith to be the department’s eighth
fire chief. Smith, a Clark County battalion chief,
replaces Earl Greene, who retired effective Feb. 2.
Smith, who has worked for the department since 1980,
has been a county battalion chief since 1997. Before
that, he worked as a fire captain, a fire engineer and a
firefighter/paramedic. As battalion chief, he
coordinated the training, inspections, community service
requests and staffing of equipment for about 59 fire
personnel in nine stations. Shortly after
joining the department, he helped fight the horrific MGM
Grand fire on Nov. 21, 1980, which killed 87 people and
injured 679. Three months later, he battled the Las
Vegas Hilton fire, which killed eight.
Smith is replacing another
longtime firefighter. Greene began his career as a
rookie firefighter in 1973 and worked his way through
the ranks, as well. He has been involved in all areas of
fire services, including suppression, prevention,
hazardous materials, logistics, volunteer fire and
administration. The majority of his 32 years of fire
department experience has been spent in management.
Among the highlights of his career are his involvement
in the implementation of the retrofitting of building
and fire codes that were passed as a result of the MGM
Grand and Las Vegas Hilton hotel fires. Greene was also
instrumental in the establishment of the Police and Fire
Executives of Southern Nevada, an organization that
brings together all sheriffs and police and fire chiefs
on a regular basis to discuss and deal with issues
common to public safety agencies.
Under Greene’s direction, in 2003 the
department was awarded accredited agency status. Of the
18,000 professional departments nationwide, the Clark
County Fire Department is one of only six departments to
have attained this status.
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