Mayor Chris Beutler of Lincoln, Nebraska has announced four finalists for the position of Lincoln Fire Chief including Los Alamos Fire Chief Troy Hughes.

Hughes told the Los Alamos Daily Post today that he will have an extremely difficult decision to make should he be offered the job.

“The reason I applied for the position is its close proximity to family – my son, two grandchildren and both sets of parents are living in the area,” Hughes said. “It will be such a difficult decision because on the one hand we can see our family much more often but on the other hand there are so many great things going on here, not just in this incredible community but in the relationships we’ve made with the people in our local union and at LANL.”

He also spoke highly of the relationships he has established through his participation in Leadership Los Alamos and Leadership New Mexico, UNM-LA and the Los Alamos Committee for Higher Education, Rotary, United Way, Los Alamos Public Safety Officers Association and the Los Alamos Chapter of the Military Order of World Wars.

“The folks involved in these organizations are all doing so much to make the community such a great place to live,” he said.

The short list to lead the LFD also includes:

• Fire Chief Michael Despain of the City of Clovis, Calif.;
• Fire Chief Gregory Easton of the City of Bloomington, Ind.; and
• Fire Chief/Regional Director Jonathan McMahan of the Rural Metro Fire Department in Tucson, Ariz.

Hughes is scheduled for an interview April 15 in Lincoln where the mayor will make the final decision with Lincoln City Council approval.

Hughes was born and raised on the plains of Nebraska. His fire service career started in 1985 as a firefighter/EMT-B with the Grand Island (Nebraska) Fire Department. He steadily rose through the ranks to achieve captain in 1992, division chief in 1998, and ultimately the fire chief in 2008. Hughes has said that he strongly believes in and utilizes a participatory leadership style to facilitate positive changes while serving in leadership roles.

Hughes was appointed to lead the Los Alamos Fire Department in October of 2011. His educational achievements include an A.A.S. in Fire Protection Technology, a B.A. in Public Administration, and a M.A. in Management with a Leadership Emphasis. He graduated Summa Cum Laude and was named the “Outstanding Graduate in the Public Administration Program” while completing his B.A. from Doane College. He also is a graduate of the National Fire Academy’s Executive Fire Officer Program and the Harvard Kennedy School of Government Senior Executives in State and Local Government Program. He is one of less than 1,000 fire service professionals in the United States that hold a Chief Fire Officer designation from the Commission on Professional Credentialing.

His family was involved in farming, ranching and several were associated with the railroad. His wife Jodi is a first grade teacher in the Los Alamos elementary school system. They have two adult children.