New fire chief for Rincon Valley, Windsor, up for the challenges

The new fire chief for Rincon Valley and Windsor fire districts is former Novato Fire Chief Mark Heine, hired after the retirement of longtime Sonoma County fire services leader Jack Piccinini.

Heine, 54, takes over the two fire agencies - representing one of the largest and more populated fire jurisdictions in the county - that are facing long-term budget issues, including an estimated 20 percent budget reduction to Rincon Valley from the Tubbs fire devastation, loss of property tax money and the need to replace two dilapidated fire stations.

Two weeks into the job Heine is immersed in financial strategy planning and talks of joining the two fire agencies with neighboring Mountain Volunteer Fire Company.

Heine, a Petaluma resident of almost 30 years, was with Novato fire 32 years as he worked his way through the ranks before being named chief five years ago. Since 1994, Heine has volunteered with west Petaluma’s Wilmar Volunteer Fire Company and served as Wilmar fire chief for five years.

In Novato he’d maxed out his retirement plan but wasn’t ready to retire, so sought out the Sonoma County job.

“My gas tank is still full,” Heine said Tuesday. “I have a real passion for both the fire service and community service.”

He was one of 44 applicants for the job and was the top choice of firefighters, board members, community leaders, law enforcement and neighboring fire officials included in the selection process, Piccinini said.

Heine’s base pay is about $160,000 plus $75,000 in benefits - a pay cut from his Novato job where he made almost $207,000. He’s agreed to at least five years as chief. With his current job he’ll begin to accrue a new pension through the California Public Employees’ Retirement System.

“He’s worked his way through the ranks and he has a very good grasp of the big picture needs that come with our two agencies,” said Cyndi Foreman, fire prevention officer and investigator for Rincon Valley and Windsor. “I’m thankful the Tubbs fire did not scare him away. He’s definitely up to the challenge.”

Piccinini, 61, retired in late January, ending a 49-year career that stretched from teen years learning the craft as a Roseland fire volunteer to ?41 years with the Santa Rosa Fire Department where he quickly rose to leadership levels, including 32 as a battalion chief. Over the years he has taught countless firefighters their skills and built a local and statewide reputation as a master fire commander, leading firefighters at many of the state’s largest blazes as well as supervising firefighters at thousands of local fires.

In 2016, Piccinini retired from Santa Rosa and became interim fire chief for Windsor and Rincon Valley. During his tenure he ended a legal agreement that partially joined the two agencies under the name “Central Fire.” The Central Fire experiment struggled with runaway overtime costs, discord between the two agencies and a lack of leadership under the previous administration. Piccinini advocated for the eventual consolidation or merger of the agencies as a way to share services and curb costs.

Over the years Piccinini took on a role as outspoken fire services leader pointing out problems and pushing for improvements to the county’s fire services system. Piccinini has been in the forefront calling for reduction of the more than three dozen firefighting agencies, many of which struggle with funding and too few volunteers.

“This was just true, honest, general passion. I saw a better fire service in Sonoma County and really wanted to push hard, and yes, I would get pretty upset with people” who wanted to hold onto past practices and avoid change, he said.

While officially retired, Piccinini isn’t done. He still is a volunteer captain with Sebastopol Fire Department and will continue involvement in the county fire services effort.

He’ll also keep working on a Cal Fire management team managing suppression of large fires throughout the state. In December his team supervised the massive Thomas fire in Southern California. Piccinini also responded in the first hours of the October firestorm in Sonoma County, trying to muster state support and guide firefighting efforts.

You can reach Staff Writer Randi Rossmann at 707-521-5412 or randi.rossmann@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter@?rossmannreport.