John Callahan, the San Luis Obispo Fire Department chief, died suddenly of a heart attack Wednesday. He was 61.
Callahan was appointed chief in 2005, after 32 years in the Los Angeles Fire Department, where he retired as a deputy chief. He was expected to retire from the San Luis Obispo Fire Department in November.
"He was a very senior and experienced fire chief," San Luis Obispo Mayor Dave Romero said. "I think he did an excellent job while he was here. He was very stable, very knowledgeable and everybody liked him."
Romero said Callahan had the heart attack while playing softball. City Manager Katie Lichtig, also a member of the team, said the game was being played at Santa Rosa Park. Callahan was second baseman, she said, of a team that was comprised of city employees.
Callahan was rushed to Sierra Vista Regional Medical Center in San Luis Obispo, and Lichtig and her predecessor, Ken Hampian, were among of group of city officials who followed.
Hampian hired Callahan to the job in San Luis Obispo, and said he was "such a strong person and strong force within the city family. It is just hard to absorb that he is gone.
"He was just a wonderful fire chief, leader and friend to all of us."
Lichtig called Callahan "an amazing collaborator with all the other departments (in city government) and was very involved with the community, which is another indication of how much he loved serving the community of San Luis Obispo."
Callahan said when he joined the department that he was impressed by San Luis Obispo's sense of community, and wanted to get local groups and businesses involved.
When he was sworn in, he told The Tribune in 2005, "half of the Fire Department showed up."
Callahan was credited with leading improvements to the city's Emergency Operations Center a central command post for all city resources during disasters. He was involved in the YMCA and the Rotary Club of San Luis Obispo de Tolosa.
Among his survivors is his wife, Lynne, a registered nurse.
SanLuisObispo.com is happy to provide a forum for reader interaction, discussion, feedback and reaction to our stories. However, we reserve the right to delete inappropriate comments or ban users who can't play nice. See our full terms of service here.
Here are some rules of the road:
You should also know that The Tribune does not screen comments before they are posted. You are more likely to see inappropriate comments before our staff does, so we ask that you click the "report abuse" button to submit those comments for moderator review. You also may notify us via email at webmaster@thetribunenews.com. Note the headline on which the comment is made and tell us the profile name of the user who made the comment. Remember, comment moderation is subjective. You may find some material objectionable that we won't and vice versa.
If you submit a comment, the username of your account will appear along with it. Users cannot remove their own comments once they have submitted them, but you may ask our staff to retract one of your comments by sending an email to webmaster@thetribunenews.com. Again, make sure you note the headline on which the comment is made and tell us your profile name.
Be the first to know what's going on in San Luis Obispo County. Just tell us how you want to find out — we'll take care of the rest.
Sign up for breaking news alerts from SanLuisObispo.com and get the latest news sent to your cell phone via text message.
By signing up for alerts from this site, you are signing up for a program that may include up to 5 SMS text alert(s) per alert category per day. There is no service fee charged per month but your carrier's standard text messaging and other charges may apply. You may stop this subscription service at any time by sending the text message "STOP" to 72737. You must be at least thirteen (13) years of age to use our alert services. If you are between 13 and 17 years old, you agree that you have received parental permission both to complete the registration process and to receive SMS content on your cell phone. For help, send the text message "HELP" to 72737. This service will work with ATT, Verizon, Sprint, Nextel, Alltell, US Cellular, Cincinnati Bell, Boost, Virgin Mobile USA, Celluar South, Telos, Centennial, East Kentucky Network, Cellcom, Immix and Rural Celluar.
E-mail »
Twitter »
Facebook »
iTribune »
Subscribe »
RSS »
About comments
Reader comments on SanLuisObispo.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Tribune. If you see an objectionable comment, click the "report abuse" button below it. We will delete comments containing inappropriate links, obscenities, hate speech, and personal attacks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. See more about comments here.