Boulder City’s new reserve battalion chief is focused on helping the community through his job with the fire department.
“We can’t stop them (fires, accidents, crises) from happening, but we can be there and help the community through. … My main goal is just to help out as much as possible,” said Breen Lowman, who started his job in February.
As reserve battalion chief, Lowman’s responsibilities include covering the times when Fire Chief Will Gray and Deputy Fire Chief Greg Chesser aren’t available to cover an incident.
“They’re always on call … on weekends and after hours,” he said. “I can take away some of that burden from them.”
When he’s working, Lowman said he monitors the radio and then comes in when needed.
“If it’s something (a fire or accident) that’s going to take more than a couple calls, I come in and establish incident command,” he said.
Lowman has worked as a firefighter with the United States Air Force for almost 20 years. Before that he was a medic in the United States Army.
“Most fire departments have a battalion chief on duty 24 hours a day. This is especially critical during emergencies where the battalion chief serves as the incident commander, ensuring the proper strategy and tactics are followed to provide safety to the firefighters and the public,” said Gray. “This reserve battalion chief position fills in for a gap the department has in supervision of the duty crews. Chief Lowman brings a wealth of incident command and incident safety experience to our department with his many years of Air Force and municipal fire departments.”
Before starting his position at the fire department, Lowman volunteered so he could get to know everyone and learn the system.
“The department is outstanding,” he said.
When he’s not working, Lowman enjoys spending time with his wife, four kids and soon-to-be four grandchildren.
“I’m a family guy,” he said.
Contact reporter Celia Shortt Goodyear at cgoodyear@bouldercityreview.com or at 702-586-9401. Follow her on Twitter @csgoodyear.