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IRVINE, Calif. () — The Orange County Fire Authority has a new interim fire chief.
TJ McGovern was unanimously appointed by the OCFA Board of Directors after the retirement of Brian Fennessy, who is now leading the newly created U.S. Wildland Fire Service.
McGovern grew up watching his father work as a firefighter in Los Angeles. He knew from a young age that he wanted to follow in his father’s footsteps.
“This is his certificate of bravery that he received when he was with LA City as a firefighter,” McGovern said while holding up the framed certificate. “That just reminds me of him. He’s passed now but it’s always in my office.”
When McGovern was 15 years old, he was a fire explorer in San Clemente. In 1994, he moved to Garden Grove.
“I promoted from firefighter. That’s where I was hired at. Through my last position as the interim fire chief. And I was the interim fire chief for Garden Grove for a year at the same time when we were transitioning to come into Orange County,” McGovern explained.
McGovern then worked his way up at OCFA, starting as a battalion chief then to the emergency command center. He was most recently the deputy chief of the emergency operations bureau.
He also served as the agency administrator on the 2024 Airport Fire.
“Very easily I could have stayed on the operations side of the house and just went off to retirement, but the fire service has been very good to me and it is a point now where I have to give back to the fire service,” McGovern said.
McGovern is tasked with overseeing one of the largest regional fire agencies in the state. OCFA serves 23 cities and all unincorporated areas across Orange County, from the beaches to the mountains.
McGovern talked about his priorities in his new role.
“We have to take care of our people and that goes back to collaboration and trust, making sure our firefighters in the field are safe, making sure they have the right tools to do their jobs effectively,” McGovern said.
Other priorities include advancing technology.
“We need to always stay up on the cutting edge. We have a lot of this AI stuff going out. We have Alert cameras, fire cameras that we can exercise. We have a lot of software that will help us get information from our members, knowing what’s going on in a wildland setting or on a major incident. We can go to our phones, get real time footage,” McGovern said.
He also said service delivery is top of mind.
“Making sure that we are there when 911 is called. A resident should expect that we will be there within eight minutes and thirty seconds, ninety percent of the time,” McGovern said.
McGovern says OCFA has made significant enhancements on the staffing front. He says in collaborating with leadership, executive management and Local 3631, they’ve been able to alleviate forced work without decreasing service levels, as well as offer strike teams one week shifts as opposed to two weeks.
He assured county residents they will be covered, regardless of the emergency. He touted the agency’s new two FireHawk helicopters.
“They are game changers. The technology on those, the stability of them, and the capabilities of them really enhanced protection of our communities in Orange County,” McGovern said. “We used to have Type 2 helicopters which dropped approximately 350 gallons. These new FireHawks drop 1,000 gallons each per drop.”
McGovern, a longtime San Clemente resident, is also a proud husband and father. Though he is new to the chief’s office, his current contract runs through December of 2026. Part of his job now, he said, is succession planning and making sure it is ready for whoever comes next.
“You have to be proactive. Don’t be reactive. So part of that is building a team below you who can understand and take those initiatives and priorities we have right now and continue the march forward,” McGovern said.
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