City Government

Fremont: City Appoints First Female Fire Chief

Fremont has appointed a new fire chief who will be the department’s first woman in that role, City Manager Karena Shackelford announced this week. Former Deputy Fire Chief of Operations Zoraida Diaz will be the next fire chief in the Bay Area’s fourth largest city beginning April 7. Women make up only 5.8% of fire chiefs in the U.S., according to Zippia.com, a site that gathers career data.

Published

2 years ago

March 29, 2023

Oakland Post

Former Deputy Fire Chief of Operations Zoraida Diaz will be the next fire chief in the Bay Area's fourth largest city beginning April 7.

By Bay City News

Fremont has appointed a new fire chief who will be the department’s first woman in that role, City Manager Karena Shackelford announced this week.

Former Deputy Fire Chief of Operations Zoraida Diaz will be the next fire chief in the Bay Area’s fourth largest city beginning April 7.

Women make up only 5.8% of fire chiefs in the U.S., according to Zippia.com, a site that gathers career data.

Her previous work with the department has included partnering with police and other first responders in Fremont to enhance service to the community, Shackelford said in a statement. She has also created incident action plans for civil unrest, public safety power shutoff events, COVID-19 protocols, and organizing response around the area’s recent weather events.

Before coming to Fremont, Diaz worked in the Oakland Fire Department, rising to the rank of assistant fire chief.

Diaz is fluent in Spanish and worked for 15 years as a social worker before becoming a firefighter.

“I am honored to be named Fremont’s next Fire Chief and my mission will be to cultivate a professional environment where civic and employee pride promotes excellence and a workforce that values transparency, equity, inclusiveness and belonging,” said Diaz.

Copyright © 2023 Bay City News, Inc. All rights reserved. Republication, rebroadcast or redistribution without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. Bay City News is a 24/7 news service covering the greater Bay Area.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Up Next

5 Large-Scale Art Projects Approved for Shields-Reid Park

Don't Miss

Silicon Valley Students Stranded by Shuttered Schools

Oakland Post

Click to comment

Activism

Remembering George Floyd

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — Minnesota State Attorney General Keith Ellison acknowledges that the Floyd case five years ago involved a situation in which due process was denied, and five years later, the president is currently dismissing “due process. “The Minnesota Atty General also says, “Trump is trying to attack constitutional rule, attacking congressional authority and judicial decision-making.” George Floyd was an African American man killed by police who knocked on his neck and on his back, preventing him from breathing.

Published

6 days ago

June 2, 2025

Oakland Post

Mural showing the portrait of George Floyd in Mauerpark in Berlin. To the left of the portrait the lettering "I can't Breathe" was added, on the right side the three hashtags #GeorgeFloyd, #Icantbreathe and #Sayhisname. The mural was completed by Eme Street Art (facebook name) / Eme Free Thinker (signature) on 29 May 2020. (Wikimedia Commons)

By April Ryan
BlackPressUSA Newswire

“The president’s been very clear he has no intentions of pardoning Derek Chauvin, and it’s not a request that we’re looking at,” confirms a senior staffer at the Trump White House. That White House response results from public hope, including from a close Trump ally, Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene. The timing of Greene’s hopes coincides with the Justice Department’s recent decision to end oversight of local police accused of abuse. It also falls on the fifth anniversary of the police-involved death of George Floyd on May 25th. The death sparked national and worldwide outrage and became a transitional moment politically and culturally, although the outcry for laws on police accountability failed.

The death forced then-Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden to focus on deadly police force and accountability. His efforts while president to pass the George Floyd Justice in policing act failed. The death of George Floyd also put a spotlight on the Black community, forcing then-candidate Biden to choose a Black woman running mate. Kamala Harris ultimately became vice president of the United States alongside Joe Biden. Minnesota State Attorney General Keith Ellison prosecuted the cases against the officers involved in the death of Floyd. He remembers,” Trump was in office when George Floyd was killed, and I would blame Trump for creating a negative environment for police-community relations. Remember, it was him who said when the looting starts, the shooting starts, it was him who got rid of all the consent decrees that were in place by the Obama administration.”

In 2025, Police-involved civilian deaths are up by “about 100 to about 11 hundred,” according to Ellison. Ellison acknowledges that the Floyd case five years ago involved a situation in which due process was denied, and five years later, the president is currently dismissing “due process. “The Minnesota Atty General also says, “Trump is trying to attack constitutional rule, attacking congressional authority and judicial decision-making.” George Floyd was an African-American man killed by police who knocked on his neck and on his back, preventing him from breathing. During those minutes on the ground, Floyd cried out for his late mother several times. Police subdued Floyd for an alleged counterfeit $20 bill.