Fire Chief Douglas E. Riley is the 2020 Florida Fire Chief of the Year

Enjoy this video recap of Fire Chief Doug Riley receiving the 2020 Fire Chief of the Year award. The award came as a surprise to Fire Chief Riley, which explains the genuine speechlessness you see as he accepts the award. The award was presented during a regularly scheduled City of LakelandCommission meeting, so as to not give the surprise away.

More About the Award:

With great pride, the Lakeland Fire Department (LFD) is excited to announce that the department’s Fire Chief, Douglas E. Riley, was selected as the 2020 Florida Fire Chief of the Year.

The prestigious award, presented by the Florida Fire Chiefs’ Association (FFCA), is given to a Fire Chief in the Florida Fire Service that demonstrates an exceptional level of leadership, integrity, and service. The selection is made by a body of peers.

Fire Chief Doug Riley shares “I am extremely humbled and honored to receive this award. I have the privilege of working alongside the best support staff in the business. I accept this award on behalf of all the men and women that make the Lakeland Fire Department the great organization that it is. It is surreal to be recognized with this honor, for doing a job that already feels like a reward in itself, because of how much I love and enjoy it.”

This award marks the third time a Lakeland Fire Department Fire Chief has received the distinguished honor in the history of the award: Charles Deal (1978), Jack Alford (1994), and Douglas Riley (2020).

The award was presented to Fire Chief Riley at the January 19, 2021 City of Lakeland Commission Meeting as a surprise by Coral Springs’ City Manager, Frank Babinec, the 2017 recipient of the award. The regularly scheduled award ceremony, held every summer by the Florida Fire Chiefs' Association, was postponed due to COVID-19.

Selection criteria includes leadership, innovation, professional development, integrity, service to the public, and contributions to the fire service in the state of Florida as a whole.