11:15am | Just like the Long Beach Police Department, the Long Beach Fire Department is going through changes.
Thursday afternoon, the department announced new appointments of high-ranking officials. Chief Alan Patalano assumed the top role back in May, and this week promoted Mike Sarjeant to Deputy Chief of Operations, Mike DuRee to Assistant Chief of Operations, and Chris Albers to Assistant Chief of Support Services.
Like Patalano, all three were promoted from within the department. The Press-Telegram reports today that DuRee and Sarjeant are replacing retiring firefighters, and that the move created two vacant Battalian Chief positions that will be filled shortly.
The moves were set in motion last year when longtime Chief Dave Ellis stepped down to focus on battling cancer. An intensive search eventually promoted Patalano to Chief and set the stage for Thursday’s new appointments.