Lauren Johnson wanted to be a doctor.
To get a leg up in her pre-med studies, the young Texan undertook EMT training and went on ride-alongs with San Antonio firefighters. She found the work challenging and, to her surprise, deeply satisfying.
“I just loved the environment,” she said in an interview with The Oregonian/OregonLive. “I loved the team aspect. I loved that the job was different every day.”
She switched her career focus, and now, nearly three decades later, Johnson is Portland Fire & Rescue’s new chief.
Johnson, 49, started in her new role on Aug. 18. Before landing in Portland, she spent 26 years with Dallas Fire-Rescue, the fire department in the Lone Star State’s third-largest city. Over her years in the department, she rose to deputy fire chief and became known for her collaborative leadership style.
Moving into the top job in a different fire department in a different part of the country is a big change, but Johnson says the transition has been smooth.
“There’s a lot of similarities between Dallas firefighters and Portland firefighters,” she said. “I hope that they will see that I’m somebody who wants to be in this position for the long haul to help improve working conditions.”
As Portland’s fire chief, Johnson oversees a bureau with more than 750 employees and an annual budget of $213 million. The city’s first pick for the job, a former California fire chief, accepted the offer and then walked away.
Johnson identified the city’s budget shortfall as one of the bureau’s biggest challenges, as well as figuring out the best way to efficiently coordinate responsibilities between the Fire Bureau and the other first-response agencies, such as Portland Street Response and Portland Solutions.
Johnson became a firefighter-paramedic with Dallas Fire-Rescue at the age of 22 after graduating from Trinity University. She proved her ability quickly and began rising through the ranks.
As she moved up in Dallas, she took on a variety of roles, including heading communications and logistics for the city’s emergency-response bureau and, after a spate of firefighter suicides, creating a mental-health program for the fire department.
When the Portland job came up, she knew she was ready, she said.
“Portland checked so many boxes for me professionally,” she said, adding that she was looking to take over a department in a big city.
Her immediate goal is to solidify relationships with the leaders and firefighters in the bureau and figure out the biggest problems facing the city’s emergency services so she can prepare next year’s bureau budget.
One of the first things Johnson learned back in those student days when she was riding with San Antonio firefighters, thinking she was going to become a doctor, was how in an emergency every minute – even every second – counts. So improving emergency response times — which have been poor in Multnomah County due, in part, to limited resources and staffing challenges — is high on her to-do list.
Johnson also said she’s looking at ways to make sure the Fire Bureau is consistently bringing in top-quality recruits, including from varying backgrounds.
Her new job is a big one that can be all-consuming, but Johnson is trying to maintain a work-life balance. She said she and her spouse and two children are enjoying getting to know their new city.
“I’m still asking for lots of restaurant recommendations,” she said with a smile.