Rice named city’s fire chief, others promoted
Dayton Fire Department veteran Mike Rice was sworn-in as director and chief at a ceremony held Feb. 5. As director and chief, Rice will oversee the operations, resources, and planning activities of the 160-year-old firefighting organization and its personnel with duties in firefighting, emergency medical services, fire prevention and investigation, and administration.
Rice began his Dayton Fire career in 2001 as a firefighter/paramedic and worked his way up through the ranks to become deputy director & chief in April of 2022. During those years, he was responsible for a broad scope of the department’s work including training, communications, emergency preparedness, health/safety and diversity/ inclusion, among many others.
Chief Rice is a member of several professional organizations and is the current president of the Greater Montgomery County Fire Chief ’s Association and co-chair of the Ohio Fire Chiefs’ Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee. Chief Rice is also a veteran of the United States Air Force Reserves, where he served the entirety of his career at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.
Joining Chief Rice in new positions are:
Brad French, promoted to the rank of assistant chief, a DFD professional since 2006.
Tyler McCoy, promoted to the rank of district chief, also with Dayton Fire since 2006.
Allen Dudziak, promoted to the rank of captain, who joined the department in 2007.
Andrew Ferguson, promoted to the rank of lieutenant.
Nicole Terrell, Andrea Vaughn, Amanda Mitch-Tolle, and Chantel Banks were recently promoted to paramedic.
The department’s emergency services division operates 12 stations with 324 members serving the community by responding to more than 42,000 emergency alarms yearly.