Houston Mayor Whitmire chooses his fire chief, Thomas Muñoz, over Samuel Peña
Thomas Muñoz was the director of the Houston Office of Emergency Management.
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Houston Mayor John Whitmire confirmed to ABC13 that Houston Fire Chief Samuel Peña is out, and Tom Muñoz, the city's office of emergency management director, will be the next chief.
Peña was the Houston Fire Department chief since Dec. 19, 2016, and is a 28-year fire service veteran.
Muñoz takes over a department in need of more firefighters and infrastructure improvements.
In a Friday afternoon news conference, Whitmire praised Peña's public service but said he wants his person in place.
"Tom is a leader among leaders," Whitmire said. "He's an all-star when it comes to public safety."
"It is my commitment to you and to the city to ensure we are the best in the world," Muñoz said. "I feel very confident that we're going to reach those goals - the strategic goals that we're going to set in place to make sure that this fire department is the best in the world."
The city formally announced Muñoz's appointment late Friday morning. By then, Peña told ABC13 he learned of the change from earlier media reports. But the writing was likely on the wall for some time.
In January, after two Houston firefighters were injured, Mayor John Whitmire addressed the media with firefighter union president Marty Lancton, not Peña. Peña was appointed by former Mayor Sylvester Turner and sided with Turner during the union's protracted pay negotiations, which Whitmire resolved. Lancton told ABC13 on Friday that he's already spoken with Muñoz and is ready for new leadership.
"It's a new day, a new era for HFD," Lancton said. "We are excited about the future. We are hopeful we can rebuild this world-class fire department that has been decimated over the past eight years."
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Muñoz does have his work cut out for him.
Amid a tightening budget, he now leads a department with 588 openings, 278 of which are for firefighters.
As of April, the department had 3,647 firefighters, down nearly 7% from five years ago.
"Our best recruiter is morale," Whitmire said. "And it's climbing as I talk to you right now."
Also, late Friday afternoon, Mayor Whitmire sent a letter to the city council telling members he is promoting Houston TranStar's Brian Mason to lead emergency operations.
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