San Jose Fire Chief Honored

Darryll Von Raesfeld can remember feeling awestruck as a kindergartner when he took the red plastic helmet from a Santa Clara
firefighter visiting his school and placed it atop his head. Little did the youngster know how the surge of pride he felt then would be magnified when he graduated from the fire academy and pinned his badge on for the first time—or that one day he would be leading the department as its fire chief.

It wasn’t until Von Raesfeld was 21 years old, pursuing a business degree at West Valley College, that the firefighting spark ignited during a conversation with his father. “We were walking down the hallway,” Von Raesfeld says, “and he said, ‘Hey, Darryl, what are you going to do?’ I said I was going out to play ball. ‘No, I mean for a career,’ he said.” Don Von Raesfeld, who was city manager for the city of Santa Clara at the time, told his son that if he had it to do all over again, he would join the fire service. “The work schedule is fantastic, and the pay and benefits are good,” he said.

Von Raesfeld took his father’s suggestion to heart and started looking for work with the Santa Clara Fire Department. As luck would have it, his friend Steve Rebello was a volunteer firefighter with the city of Santa Clara. It wasn’t long before Von Raesfeld was by his side, fighting fires, responding to medical emergencies, and taking tests up and down the coast for a full-time job as a firefighter. He loved helping people and had no doubts about his chosen career when he was hired by the Santa Clara County Fire Department in August 1976. Von Raesfeld joined the San Jose Fire Department (SJFD) one year later when the city took charge of five county fire stations. He quickly rose through the ranks.

In 1992, Von Raesfeld became battalion chief. He was appointed deputy fire chief in 2004, assistant fire chief in 2005, interim fire chief in 2006, and fire chief in June 2008.

When Von Raesfeld told his father he was considering the deputy fire chief’s position, his father advised against it. “As battalion chief, you’ve got the best job in the world,” he said. “You’re giving up something really good for a desk job with politics and everything that goes with it.” But in 2006, when Von Raesfeld made interim chief, his dad was proud of him for reaching the top of his profession. “He changed his mind,” Von Raesfeld says. “It doesn’t make my job any easier, but at least I have his healthy respect.”

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