Fire Chief Brian Estes of the Nevada Yuba Placer Unit and Placer County Fire Department will retire at the end of 2025, concluding a distinguished 35-year career with CAL FIRE. Chief Estes began his fire service journey in 1991 as a Firefighter I at a busy station in southeast San Diego County. His early passion for fire aviation led to a four-year assignment on a CAL FIRE helicopter crew in Tuolumne County, shaping his expertise in rotor-winged operations.
Over the years, he served as a Military Helicopter Manager and Liaison Officer with the California National Guard. Promoting through the ranks, Estes became a Fire Apparatus Engineer in 1998, Captain in 2000, and Battalion Chief in 2005, overseeing training and emergency medical services. In 2005, he joined Incident Command Team 10 as a Type I Operations Section Chief, managing over 30 complex emergency deployments. By 2013, he was selected as a Type I Incident Commander, leading Incident Management Team 6 through 14 major incidents across California.
