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After a decade spent leading the Mountain View Fire Department, Chief Juan Diaz plans to retire at the end of the year and Deputy Chief Brian Jones is set to replace him, the city announced on Thursday.
The city announced Diaz’s retirement and plans to promote Jones in a pair of press releases on Thursday, Oct. 16, praising both men’s long contributions to Mountain View’s fire department.
Now that he’s turning 60 this month, Diaz told the Voice that it felt like the right time for him to hang up his hat after 40 years of fire service. His last day is set for Dec. 30.
“I want to do some traveling,” Diaz said. “I want to see parts of the world that I haven’t seen, but I also want to spend more time with my family. This job is very time consuming. We never have truly a day off or holiday.”
Throughout his firefighting career, Diaz delivered five babies and saved countless properties from devastating fires. He knew early on in life that firefighting was his calling because he always wanted to help others.
In a 2015 interview with the Voice, Diaz described his experience as a refugee from Cuba, who arrived in Florida in 1980 and moved to Santa Clara with his family soon after. At the age of 19, while attending classes with the Mission College Fire Science program, he knocked on the door of a Santa Clara City fire station, offering to work as a volunteer firefighter.
During this time, he continued to work at night as a janitor with his father, and after four years of volunteering, he was hired by the San José Fire Department, where he worked for 25 years, eventually climbing the ranks to deputy fire chief.
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Fast forward to 2014, Diaz joined the Mountain View Fire Department as the deputy chief of operations and was promoted to fire chief the following year. In his time with the department, he not only provided emergency services to local residents and expanded fire prevention education efforts across the city, but he also built a second family.
Diaz told the Voice that it’s hard to describe the bond created among firefighters who are together day in and day out, consistently putting themselves in harm’s way to help others.
Longtime colleague, friend to replace Diaz
Standing beside Diaz at his wedding in 2018 was his best man, Deputy Chief Jones, who will now be replacing him to become Mountain View’s 20th fire chief on Dec. 31.
Diaz and Jones have worked together for nearly 10 years, and said they’ve built a strong bond in the process. Together, they’ve enhanced the fire department’s services by adding a tactical medic team that works directly with the police department’s SWAT team, upgrading the apartment building inspection program and adding ambulance transportation for emergency medical services, Jones told the Voice.
Jones has over three decades of experience in firefighting and joined the Mountain View Fire Department as deputy chief in May 2016.
“Throughout my whole fire service career, since 1993, I’ve always been preparing for the next step and the next position,” Jones said. “There’s a lesson learned in every experience that you have, so I would say my whole career, I’ve been preparing for this position.”
He knew from a very young age that he wanted to become a firefighter, and after doing some ridealongs with the Palo Alto Fire Department in high school, he confirmed his passion. In his junior and senior years at Saint Francis High School in Mountain View, he started taking fire technology and emergency medical services classes at Mission College.
In September 1993, he joined the Columbia College Fire Department in Sonora, California, where he completed his associate degree in fire technology. He went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in fire management, and a master’s degree in leadership with an emphasis in homeland security and emergency management, according to the city’s press release.
Stepping into the role of Mountain View fire chief, Jones said that he is excited to continue the legacy that Diaz built during his tenure. Diaz shared with the Voice that his advice to Jones is to build and maintain strong relationships with residents, elected officials, city staff and fellow firefighters.
“I’m happy that he’s going to be the fire chief,” Diaz said. “This organization is like my baby, and I’m able to walk away knowing that it’s in great hands.”
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