The first winner of an award recognizing the accomplishments of Alaska fire chiefs serves close to home. Kenai Fire Chief Jeff Tucker received the 2017 Warren B. Cummings Chief Officer of the Year Award at the 2018 Alaska Fire Chiefs Association Leadership Summit held in Juneau last week. The award recognizes fire chiefs who follow in the footsteps of Cummings, a 43-year fire service veteran from the Fairbanks Fire Department who recently died of cancer, according to information provided by the Alaska Fire Chiefs Association.
During his tenure as fire chief, Cummings helped obtain federal and state grants that funded millions of dollars in capital improvement projects and served in lead roles in the Alaska Fire Chiefs Association, the Western Fire Chiefs Association and the Alaska Fire Standards Council.