Chief Charles Hood: Culture of Learning

Charles Hood was sworn in as the Fire Chief of the City of San Antonio on April 16th 2007, becoming the first outside Fire Chief and the first African American Fire Chief in this historically significant city. Chief Hood leads one of the largest fire departments in the nation, commanding approximately 1800 personnel with a budget of over $292 million, and is ultimately responsible for providing fire, emergency medical, special operations, emergency management and fire prevention to over 1.4 million citizens.

Charles joined the City of Phoenix Fire Department in 1984 where he rose through the ranks. He was a member of the Phoenix Fire Department’s Urban Search & Rescue team and FEMA’s Urban Search and Rescue’s National Incident Support Team. National responses include the 2004 Winter Olympics, Democratic National Convention, The Rodeo Fire and Challenger Space Shuttle incident and he served as the Liaison Officer with the City of New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina.

Charles holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Fire Service Management from the University of Ottawa and has attended the Harvard Kennedy School of Executive Education. He is an Adjunct Faculty at Texas A&M University National Emergency Response and Rescue Training Center.
In 2010, he was the recipient of the Metro Fire Chief of the Year presented by the members of the Black Chief Officer’s Committee, IABPFF. In 2014, Chief Hood was appointed to the Board of Directors of the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation for a six-year term by the Fire Administrator of the United States Fire Administration. In 2016, Hood was appointed to the Editorial Board of Firehouse Magazine.

An Arizona native, Charles is the proud father of four sons, Tevin, Jaxon, Langston and Sheridan.