Welcome Gulfport’s New Fire Chief René Fernandez Has Spent His Entire Career With Same Department

By Monroe Roark

René Fernandez has spent his entire career with Gulfport Fire Rescue, and he has moved from entry level to the top spot.

Fernandez was named the city’s new fire chief and sworn in at the Jan. 17 council meeting. He succeeds Jim Marenkovic, whose last official day before retirement was Jan. 3.

Born and raised in Miami, Fernandez started EMT school a month after graduating high school. From there he completed paramedic school as well as the fire academy, and was hired in Gulfport as a firefighter/paramedic in September 2006. And he never left.

“I applied here because my grandparents lived in Clearwater. I knew I wanted to work in Miami or this area,” he said. “I got hired here first, which was a blessing because I ended up loving the area and never went back to Miami looking for work.”

Fernandez was promoted to lieutenant in 2017 and then to captain in 2019. He has lived in Gulfport since 2007.

Judging from the bio on the city’s website, it’s difficult to imagine any aspect of the department’s operations with which Fernandez is not already quite familiar.

His past roles include driver operator and lieutenant paramedic, and he has overseen the medical operations of the department since achieving that rank. His education in the medical field includes a current certification as a paramedic, registered nurse, and CPR instructor with the American Heart Association, among other areas. On the fire side, he is certified as a pump operator, fire instructor, fire inspector, and fire officer.

Now he oversees the entire 18-person department, although that number will increase since council voted Jan. 17 to approve the creation of a new paramedic position.

“It is our hope to get another paramedic to help out with the workload here and better serve the community with an extra person,” Fernandez said.

His former captain’s chair will also be filled at some point. Fernandez said because the department has a solid educational program that incentivizes its personnel to continue taking classes, there are a number of good candidates in place. An independent company will conduct testing for those who apply and assist in identifying the top candidate.

As for the chief’s position, City Manager Jim O’Reilly only had to look inside his own ranks.

“The position was only posted internally, due to the fact that there were multiple viable qualified candidates within the department,” he said. “Chief Fernandez was promoted from within due to his extensive educational and professional qualifications and background.”

About fire safety at the meeting

“If there is a fire in this building right now, you are in the safest place you could be.” –Mayor Sam Henderson at the beginning of the meeting, referring to the numerous members of Gulfport Fire Rescue in attendance to witness the swearing-in of new chief Rene Fernandez

About new police cars

“I just wanted to let people know we looked into buying hybrids. There are currently no electric vehicles that are authorized for police pursuit use, and the hybrids were not available. Having just bought a hybrid, I know how hard it is to find them, and so that’s why we’re not buying an electric or a hybrid at this time.” –Councilmember April Thanos (Ward I)

About electric cars

“An interesting story real quick. I drove up to Callahan and took 301. There was a car hauler on fire. All of the cars were on fire. And guess what was the cause of it? A Tesla. So if you’re going to go down the road of a fire hazard … a fireman will tell you how much it takes to put out one of those electric cars. It’s an enormous undertaking.” –Councilmember Paul Ray