Kyle Shipherd — a 20-year veteran of the Manteca Fire Department — is now the city’s fire chief.
Acting City Manager Greg Showerman made the announcement Wednesday during the Manteca Chamber of Commerce coffee hosted at Crossroads Community Church.
Shipherd, 51, has been serving as interim Fire Chief since Kirk Waters retired in July.
“People kept calling me in support – it was amazing and humbling,” the former battalion fire chief said of his selection after a cross country search for a successor to Waters. “You go through your career and you never know how much support you have until something like this happens.”
Shipherd has worked for the Manteca Fire Department for the past 20 years after serving as a firefighter in Ripon for eight years.  He joined the Manteca department in 1997 as a firefighter, was promoted to fire fighter/engineer in 1999, fire captain in 2005 and to battalion chief in 2009.
Shipherd is a graduate of Modesto Junior College and is also a graduate of the State Fire Marshal’s Chief Officer and Fire Prevention Officer Programs.  He has a diverse background in Emergency Management and is qualified as a strike team leader. Shipherd has responded to more than 20 emergency deployments across California.
He served as a leader for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in Hurricane Katrina.
Now that he has been appointed to the chief’s position, he no longer has to wear two hats – that of a battalion chief and as the interim fire chief with its additional duties.
The new chief has been married to his wife Michelle for 32 years.  Together they have three children, Kenton, 22, a firefighter; Olivia, 20, a college student studying in Oslo, Norway and Sarah, a junior at Central Catholic High School. ” he said.
Daughter Sarah is among those running for the Almond Festival Queen in Ripon.

To contact Glenn Kahl, email gkahl@mantecabulletin.com.