“It’s absolutely humbling and it’s an absolute honor to be chief of the Dayton Fire Department,” he said. “I’ve been on this department for 23 years and went up through the ranks and it’s really such an honor to be picked to lead the department.”
He became assistant chief of the Dayton Fire Department in February of 2020 and last spring he was appointed as deputy director.
Rice said he hopes to improve communication in the department.
“I think it’s really important for myself and the command staff to get out daily into the firehouses and find out what the issues are and find out how we can fix things,” he said. “This is not a broken department. There’s always room for improvement. The men and women that do the job, that’s where we need to support them to ensure that we provide top-notch fire, EMS and rescue services to the city of Dayton.”
Rice’s ascension in the fire department is somewhat similar to the leader he replaces, Jeff Lykins.
Chief Lykins, whose last day was Friday, joined the department in 1992 and held multiple jobs, including firefighter, lieutenant, assistant chief and deputy chief. Lykins was named chief in February 2020.
Lykins said he believes he is leaving the fire department in very good shape. He said the department had an excellent succession plan.
Other promotions will occur on Monday as well. This includes the promotion of fire Captain Brad French to assistant chief, and Captain Tyler McCoy is being promoted to a district chief position.
The fire department currently employs 354 personnel. The agency last year had an unprecedented number of fire and EMS runs, which came after a record-setting year for runs in 2022.
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