Assistant Chief John Klinefelter began his fire service career over 20 years ago and is currently the Health and Safety Chief for Clearwater Fire & Rescue. While moving through the ranks of Clearwater Fire & Rescue, he was an active member of the department’s Occupational Safety and Health Committee and Accident Review Board.
As the Health and Safety Chief, he has expanded the CISM and Peer Support teams for CFR. John has also met with the city’s EAP provider to enhance and vet EAP providers for the city’s first responders. He also serves as a Safety Officer when needed on incidents.
John serves as a Region Coordinator for the Florida Firefighters Safety and Health Collaborative (FFSHC), which focuses in the areas of: firefighter cancer prevention, health and fitness, mental wellness, and firefighter safety. As the West-Central Florida Region Coordinator, he works with local fire departments and industry leaders to fulfill the direction of the FFSHC.
Chief John Klienfelter is everything that is wrong with Clearwater Fire and Rescue. As a former union president, he failed the membership miserably—his poor leadership cost firefighters vital rights, and he has never been held accountable for it. Now, instead of serving the people he is supposed to lead, he serves himself and the city, feeding them insider information on union operations and strategies, actively working against his own brothers and sisters.
This man will look you in the eye and lie without hesitation. He is the source of anonymous complaints aimed at anyone who dares to stand in his way, weaponizing the system for his own gain. He thrives on creating division, destroying trust, and manipulating situations to elevate himself at the expense of the department.
Klienfelter is not a leader—he’s a power-hungry politician in uniform. His presence erodes morale, poisons the culture, and drags down what was once a great department. Surrounded by a handful of cronies just as committed to tearing things apart, he embodies corruption, dishonesty, and betrayal of the fire service brotherhood.
There is no place for someone like John Klienfelter in Clearwater Fire and Rescue. His toxic leadership and self-serving agenda are cancerous to the department, and until he and his circle are gone, this organization will never truly move forward.
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1 Reviews on “John Klinefelter”
Chief John Klienfelter is everything that is wrong with Clearwater Fire and Rescue. As a former union president, he failed the membership miserably—his poor leadership cost firefighters vital rights, and he has never been held accountable for it. Now, instead of serving the people he is supposed to lead, he serves himself and the city, feeding them insider information on union operations and strategies, actively working against his own brothers and sisters.
This man will look you in the eye and lie without hesitation. He is the source of anonymous complaints aimed at anyone who dares to stand in his way, weaponizing the system for his own gain. He thrives on creating division, destroying trust, and manipulating situations to elevate himself at the expense of the department.
Klienfelter is not a leader—he’s a power-hungry politician in uniform. His presence erodes morale, poisons the culture, and drags down what was once a great department. Surrounded by a handful of cronies just as committed to tearing things apart, he embodies corruption, dishonesty, and betrayal of the fire service brotherhood.
There is no place for someone like John Klienfelter in Clearwater Fire and Rescue. His toxic leadership and self-serving agenda are cancerous to the department, and until he and his circle are gone, this organization will never truly move forward.