News Release - New Fire Chief Accepts Oath of Office

Palm Bay Fire Chief Steve Abraira accepted the oath of office Thursday evening as he assumes command of the 143-person Palm Bay Fire Department. Abraira has spent the last two weeks assessing the department and will be meeting with all civilian staff and uniform personnel within the coming weeks. “I see a lot of opportunity for this young department,” Chief Abraira said. “We will work together to bring this department into the future with the tools and equipment needed to take us to the next level.”

Abraira has an impressive background of experience including five-year tenure as the fire chief of the Dallas Fire-Rescue Department in Dallas, Texas. There, he was the City’s first Hispanic fire chief leading a department that had 55 fire stations and 2000 employees. Prior to becoming chief in Dallas, Abraira retired as the assistant chief of emergency response for the City of Miami Department of Fire-Rescue. Since age nineteen, Abraira has been in the fire service working his way through the ranks of firefighter, driver engineer, state certified fire service instructor, state certified fire inspector, fire lieutenant, station captain, hazmat commander, district chief, deputy division chief in operations, division chief over training and safety, assistant chief of management services, and ultimately the emergency response division. After a 26-year career in Miami, he retired in June of 2000 to assume the position of Dallas Fire Chief. Chief Abraira began his tenure in Palm Bay on September 10, 2007.

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Yvonne Martinez

Public Information Coordinator
Phone (321) 952-3456 ext. 4678
Cell (321) 426-5194
130 Malabar Road
Palm Bay, FL 32907

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