Ester Volunteer Fire Department is proud to welcome Jeff Conner as our new Fire Chief

He has shown raw excitement and passion about tackling the task of becoming the new Fire Chief in Ester, and his dedication to being a strong leader in the fire service.

Jeff has lived on Chena Ridge, overlooking Ester for the last 13 years.  While he is not a resident of Ester proper, he is already noticing and appreciating the Community that makes Ester unique.

In 1987, while a student at UAF, he saw a posting for a live-in position at Chena-Goldstream Fire and Rescue and began his career in the fire service.  He moved to University Fire Department in 1989 as a student firefighter and received his EMT certification which he has kept current for the last 30 years.

In 1990, Jeff was hired by the Seattle Fire department, where he honed his firefighting skills with a large municipal department, but was drawn back to Alaska and returned to Fairbanks in 1994.  He has been employed by the Fairbanks Fire Department for the last 25 years, achieving the rank of acting Battalion Chief.

To our great benefit, Jeff was eligible for retirement from the City of Fairbanks, during the same time period our Fire Chief position was posted.  Since our first interaction at his interview it was apparent that Jeff has the leadership and interpersonal skills that we were hoping to attract to our chief position. 

When speaking with many people who had worked with Jeff through the years.  A few of the comments that were heard were: he is calm and steady, if you don’t know something “call Jeff”, he is technically and tactically competent, he takes pride in his job, he is a strong mentor, he makes everyone feel welcome and best of all: “He would be a great fire chief”