Retired from the department of defense fire department Joint Base San Antonio- Lackland, transitioned over to a civilian fire department.
April of 2024 was the start of his tenure at South Hays Fire Department/Hays County ESD#3 in San Marcos, Texas. As the chief he heads a 3 station, paid/part-time fire department and the continuous transition of paid personnel and rapid growth in Hays County.
This fire chief demonstrates the total lack of knowledge in leading a civilian fire department, leadership and engagement with his department. His first priority as Chief? He bought himself a brand new chief truck. The 2 year old Tahoe that was provided when he got hired wasn’t good enough. While at work he sits in his office “working” on policies or straight up sleeping in his chair. He’s been caught a number of times having his mid day nap in his office. During the day, firefighters and officers do what needs to be done, responding to calls and daily duties, only to be ridiculed for their work as the Chief walks to his truck and heads home around 3:30pm. While 95% of the paid personnel have around 2-3 years in the fire service, he tells the on duty crews to rely on the neighboring department’s battalion chief to run large incidents if one is needed. It’s mind boggling because he had 2 assistant Chiefs under him that were with the department for well over 10 years that were involved, engaged in operations, ran large incidents, and started the whole transition to a paid fire department that he has since gotten rid of. While he never explained why to the membership, it’s evident that he wants total control with no push back or anyone disagreeing with him.
When it comes to external department training, this Chief is a non believer. He has denied 100% of training requests, explaining to some that he would have never hired them had he known they didn’t possess certain training classes. Morale within the department is at an all time low, with many personnel feeling their input is undervalued or ignored. Many of firefighters have expressed, on many occasions, their need to go work somewhere else. All 3 Captains that were originally hired have either been terminated or resigned. It’s truly the blind leading the blind at this department and it’s obvious to other departments in the same county. Resulting in most not inviting or wanting to partake in any training with this department.
For the department to move forward, a new Fire Chief is needed. A Fire Chief with experience in an actual fire department, not a D.O.D fire department. I can only hope with this Chiefs ideas, lack of recognition of his shortcomings, and disconnect with personnel in operations, no one gets seriously injured or worse.
Rating Breakdown
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1 Review on “Scott Ridenour”
This fire chief demonstrates the total lack of knowledge in leading a civilian fire department, leadership and engagement with his department. His first priority as Chief? He bought himself a brand new chief truck. The 2 year old Tahoe that was provided when he got hired wasn’t good enough. While at work he sits in his office “working” on policies or straight up sleeping in his chair. He’s been caught a number of times having his mid day nap in his office. During the day, firefighters and officers do what needs to be done, responding to calls and daily duties, only to be ridiculed for their work as the Chief walks to his truck and heads home around 3:30pm. While 95% of the paid personnel have around 2-3 years in the fire service, he tells the on duty crews to rely on the neighboring department’s battalion chief to run large incidents if one is needed. It’s mind boggling because he had 2 assistant Chiefs under him that were with the department for well over 10 years that were involved, engaged in operations, ran large incidents, and started the whole transition to a paid fire department that he has since gotten rid of. While he never explained why to the membership, it’s evident that he wants total control with no push back or anyone disagreeing with him.
When it comes to external department training, this Chief is a non believer. He has denied 100% of training requests, explaining to some that he would have never hired them had he known they didn’t possess certain training classes. Morale within the department is at an all time low, with many personnel feeling their input is undervalued or ignored. Many of firefighters have expressed, on many occasions, their need to go work somewhere else. All 3 Captains that were originally hired have either been terminated or resigned. It’s truly the blind leading the blind at this department and it’s obvious to other departments in the same county. Resulting in most not inviting or wanting to partake in any training with this department.
For the department to move forward, a new Fire Chief is needed. A Fire Chief with experience in an actual fire department, not a D.O.D fire department. I can only hope with this Chiefs ideas, lack of recognition of his shortcomings, and disconnect with personnel in operations, no one gets seriously injured or worse.