Steven Torrence, who has coordinated emergency response services in the Los Angeles area for the past 10 years, has been selected as the new Director of Emergency Management within the Marin County Fire Department.

Fire Chief Jason Weber said Torrence was the choice among 67 applicants following a nationwide recruitment. His first day leading the County of Marin’s Office of Emergency Management (OEM) was February 22.

“Steven joins us with a commitment to building more resilient communities,” Weber said. “His experience and passion for emergency management is contagious. He showed his passion as he talked about building critical relationships that ensure success during an emergency response. We are thrilled to have him in this critical leadership role.”

Torrence most recently served as the Emergency Services Administrator for the City of Santa Monica. He oversaw the city’s Office of Emergency Management (OEM), its Emergency Operations Center, alert and warning systems, community preparedness, and emergency planning.

Simultaneously, he served as regional coordinator for Area A of Los Angeles County and helped coordinate trainings, responses, and communications for the cities of Culver City, Beverly Hills, West Hollywood, and Santa Monica plus private-sector partners and hospitals.

His array of emergency experience includes responses to wildfires, tsunamis, the COVID-19 pandemic, heat events, civil unrest incidents, infrastructure failures, aircraft incidents, and large-scale planned events such as presidential visits and the Super Bowl.

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He has led regional emergency management committees such as the Orange County CERT Mutual Aid Committee, for which he served as committee chair.

Torrence routinely speaks at conferences and seminars throughout California on emergency preparedness and mitigation in relation to the diversity of the state’s population.

Most notably, he has spoken at the California Emergency Services Association conference on the topic of diversity, equity, and inclusion in emergency management.

“Building a resistant and resilient community is core to the Marin County Office of Emergency Management,” Torrence said. “To achieve this vision, we must ensure that we are effectively planning and preparing each person for the hazards of today and tomorrow.”

Torrence began to focus on firefighting and emergency management while obtaining an associate’s degree at Chaffey College in Rancho Cucamonga, near Los Angeles, then continued with a public administration degree from the University of La Verne.

He has a master’s degree in emergency and disaster management from Georgetown University, for which he serves as a guest lecturer for the graduate program.

He began his professional career with the Rancho Cucamonga Fire District and later became emergency services coordinator for the City of Placentia.

The Marin County Public Information Office provided this report.

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