Salem will soon welcome a new fire chief to fill the top role at the Salem Fire Department after Chief Mike Niblock retires after a 20-year career in Salem.
Niblock informed city leaders on June 11 he planned to retire, City Manager Keith Stahley told Salem Reporter.
Taking his place is David Gerboth, 51, who comes to Salem from San Diego Fire-Rescue Department, where he’s assistant chief.
Niblock’s last day at the helm will be Sept. 20, and he will go down in Salem history as the second-longest serving chief in the department’s 167-year history. Niblock served as fire chief for 15 years and 3 months, he said.
Gerboth will be sworn in Sept. 23.
Stahley said the process of finding a new fire chief was an ordeal and the six finalists interviewed for the position came from all over the country.
“It was literally the hardest and most rigorous selection process I’ve ever been involved with. We had extraordinarily well qualified candidates,” Stahley said. “Dave came with an extraordinary degree of preparation that frankly I’ve never seen another applicant for a position be as engaged in the community and in the process, and doing the homework to understand the position as Dave was.”
Gerboth is originally from the Bay Area and has been a firefighter since 1992, when he joined the Shasta College Fire Department in Redding, California, as a student firefighter.
He said he knew he wanted to be a firefighter the day he graduated high school. Early the next morning, the local fire department came and cooked breakfast for all the students.
“The firefighters were working as a team, they were having fun, they were in shape, they were engaged, and I was coming from a background of team sports growing up and I started talking to them and it was something that completely fit,” Gerboth told Salem Reporter in an interview. “I never thought about the fire department. I knew I wanted to do something that was team oriented and benefited the community.”
That morning he went home and took a shower, got dressed, went down to the fire station and had a conversation with the crews there that persuaded him to pursue the career.
One of his goals as he comes to Salem is to work on community engagement, something that he said is integral to the role of fire chief. It’s something he said he enjoys.
He hopes members of the community will see what he saw in the fire department and also become firefighters and paramedics to serve the community.
“I want the community to know that these jobs are available. It’s a great way to serve the community, it is a great way to provide for your family,” Gerboth said.
Gerboth said he and his wife, who he met while attending Shasta College, began exploring Oregon and felt a deep love for and connection to the state. “Then we had kids, we started bringing our kids to Oregon and it became this really incredible, special place for our family,” Gerboth said. “We’ve always loved Oregon.”
His daughter just began a nursing program at the University of Portland.
Gerboth said over the years he had his eye out for job openings in Oregon, but he never applied to any of them because he felt they lacked the complexity and challenge that he desired. When he saw Salem was looking for a new fire chief, he took a stab at finally moving to the place he and his family love.
“When I saw the brochure for the city of Salem, I started reading it and it was really complimentary to my background,” Gerboth said. “I started visiting Salem to see if this was going to be a good fit and I really felt like it was going to be a great fit.”
He said what impressed him most about Salem was the community, the dedication and potential of Salem’s fire department, and he said he really liked seeing the older homes and historic buildings the city has to offer.
Gerboth said he is uniquely positioned to approach one of the fire department’s biggest challenges of taking control of the city’s EMS services from Falck. City councilors voted in the spring to begin the process of starting a city-run ambulance service rather than renewing Falck’s contract when it expires next June.
He’s overseen a similar transition in San Diego, which also contracts with Falck. His agency over the past two years has transitioned much of the private company’s work to the fire department, including dispatching ambulances, billing and collection services, and for operational control of ambulances.
“Many of those responsibilities that are going to come over to the city of Salem, I’ve already been working on bringing them to the city of San Diego,” he said.
Stahley said the transition from Falck to a city-run EMS system was a major topic during the process of finding Salem’s new fire chief.
“That was definitely part of the selection process, part of the interview process was, ‘Are you ready to handle this transition?” Stahley said. “Definitely the biggest challenge facing the fire department right now, is managing this transition to ambulance transport…and I think Dave is well qualified to lead that effort for us.”
One of his other priorities as fire chief involves community health, Gerboth said.
“In Salem, you have one of the busiest emergency rooms on the West Coast,” he said, referring to Salem Hospital. “Is there a way we can work together and relieve that inundation and relieve the 911 system? I think there are certainly opportunities there.”
Gerboth said he is grateful for all of the work Niblock has done to move the Salem Fire Department forward, and he looks forward to carrying on his predecessor’s legacy.
Niblock’s career as a firefighter began 39 years ago when he started as a college resident firefighter for Fire District 8 in Spokane, Washington. He worked for the fire department in Richland, Washington, from 1988 to 2004 before coming to Salem. He became chief of the Salem Fire Department in June 2009.
“It’s been a pleasure to serve as Salem’s fire chief alongside our firefighters and staff, they are truly the best and exist solely to serve and protect our citizens and they deserve our respect and support,” Niblock said.
Stahley said Niblock has successfully set up Gerboth for success once he takes over as chief, leaving a healthy organization that is ready for new leadership and prepared to take on whatever challenges the community may face.
“Mike has helped position our organization and position a leadership and command structure that will allow our new chief to be successful and I think that is a legacy that anybody can be proud of,” Stahley told Salem Reporter. “Mike spent a little over 19 years with us and he grew up as a leader with us, and he’s affected our organization significantly. And while Chief Gerboth is going to be able to fill his shoes, I think Mike’s demeanor and his knowledge of our community and our organization is going to be missed.”
Contact reporter Joe Siess: [email protected] or 503-335-7790.
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Joe Siess is a reporter for Salem Reporter. Joe joined Salem Reporter in 2024 and primarily covers city and county government but loves surprises. Joe previously reported for the Redmond Spokesman, the Bulletin in Bend, Klamath Falls Herald and News and the Malheur Enterprise. He was born in Independence, MO, where the Oregon Trail officially starts, and grew up in the Kansas City area.
