Meet the Fire Chief

Fire Chief – J. P. Steelman

Chief JP Steelman
J.P. Steelman began his career with the City of Longview in 1990 with 5 years previous experience in the Fire Service. Hired as a Firefighter/EMT with a strong ambition to advance, he earned his promotion to Driver/Engineer in 1998. In 2000, he promoted to the Training Division as a Training/Safety Officer. Promoting once again to Captain 2003, J.P. transferred from the Training Division back to Operations as a Company Officer. He achieved his promotion to Senior Captain in 2006 and promotion to Battalion Chief in 2007. During the period of May - October 2007, Chief Steelman served as Interim Assistant Chief. From February - September 2010, Chief Steelman led the department as Interim Fire Chief until being appointed by City Manager David Willard as the Fire Chief in October 2010. Throughout his career with Longview Fire Department, Chief Steelman has always maintained a strong will to illustrate his desire to be actively involved in all aspects of the Fire Service. Some of the specialized teams he has been involved with include; the Water Rescue/Dive Team, a charter member of the department's Honor Guard, the Haz-Mat/Special Operations Team, the Recruiting Team, the Hiring Board, & various other committees. J.P. has aggressively shared his continued knowledge of the Fire Service by educating fire cadet students of Kilgore College Fire Academy in an assortment of different classes since 1996. 

In addition to his wide array of affiliations, Chief Steelman has also assertively pursued his aspirations of earning a higher education and his knowledge base of the American Fire Service. He commenced his educational journey in 1990 and has since achieved an Associates of Applied Science Degree in Fire Protection from Kilgore College, the Executive Fire Officer (EFO) designation from the National Fire Academy in Emmitsburg, MD, as well as the Certified Fire Executive (CFE) designation from the Texas Fire Chief's Academy sponsored from the Texas Fire Chief's Association in Austin, Texas, and Fire Service Chief Executive Officer designation (FS-CEO) through the Texas Engineering Extension Service of Texas A&M University. Other professional credentials include: from TCFP; Head of Department, Master Firefighter, Master Inspector, Master Instructor - Level III, Fire Officer IV, Hazardous Materials Technician, Hazardous Materials Incident Commander, Incident Safety Officer, and Intermediate Wildland Firefighter. In February 2014, Chief Steelman received his TCFP Certification for Fire Officer III and IV. Chief Steelman is a Licensed Paramedic with the Texas Department of State Health Services. Chief Steelman continues to participate as a member of Texas Task Force-1 and the Northeast Texas All-Hazards Type-3 Incident Management Team. From 2007-2017, Steelman served on the Firefighter Advisory Committee for the Texas Commission on Fire Protection in Austin.  In 2017, Chief Steelman was appointed by Texas Governor Greg Abbott as a Commissioner on Texas Commission of Fire Protection.  Locally, Chief Steelman is an active member and past president of the Longview-Greggton Rotary Club. Other community activities include on the Board of Directors for SeeSaw Children's Place, board member for the Kilgore College Fire Academy, and he is a member of Sabine Industrial District Citizen's Advisory Panel.  Chief Steelman is a 32-degree Master Mason with Bethesda Masonic Lodge #142 in Gilmer and is a Scottish-Rite Mason out of the Valley of Waco. J.P., his wife Becky are the parents of four adult children.