Joseph Perry, chief of the City of Napa Fire Department, was last week named as head of the UC Davis Fire Department.

On March 1, Perry will officially take over the post, left vacant since the retirement in November of longtime UC Davis fire chief Mike Chandler.

Perry has spent more than 30 years in firefighting. He began his career in 1971 as a firefighter in the Bay Area, working for the Newark fire department. He later served as a fire captain in Union City and was promoted to fire marshal. He was responsible for Union City's structural inspection programs, arson investigation, public training and outreach and hazardous materials programs.

Since 1991, Perry has served as chief of the City of Napa Fire Department.

Perry also has been active in regional and statewide professional activities. He is currently the president of the Western Fire Chiefs Association; serves as a fire official on the Building, Fire, and Other Code Advisory Committee of the State Building Standards Commission; serves as vice-chair of the Uniform Fire Code Association; and sits on the executive board and is a past president of the California Fire Chiefs Association.

He earned an associates degree in fire science from Chabot College in Hayward and a bachelor's degree in political science, with an emphasis on public affairs and administration, from California State University, Hayward. Perry also is a credentialed California Community College fire science teacher.

He and his wife, Cindy, have two adult children, one of whom is a UC Davis graduate, and three grandchildren.