Working his way up the ranks: Lodi native Mark Weber recently named new chief at Mokelumne Rural Fire

Aug. 17—LOCKEFORD — After more than two decades with the Mokelumne Rural Fire District, a Lodi native has taken over as its new chief.

Mark Weber has held a variety of positions and ranks with the small department, including firefighter, engineer, captain and battalion chief, since he was hired on in 2001.

In January, he was named interim chief following the retirement of Frank Ramirez in December.

Weber was officially named chief in April.

A career in fire service was not what he had planned to do while attending Lodi High School in the 1990s.

"I took some fire science classes, and that kind of got me interested," he said. "But my main career goal — my family owns a cabinet shop in Lodi — and I kind of pursued that. But I also had some family members in the fire service, and they really encouraged me to go in that direction."

After graduating in 1999, Weber signed on as a reserve with the Mokelumne department and attended Delta College's fire academy.

He was hired on as a full-time firefighter two years later.

While he's never worked for a city fire department like Lodi or Stockton, Weber said there are differences in operations compared to a county agency.

One difference is that departments for cities tend to have larger budgets for more equipment, as well as a larger staff.

"We deal with a lot of high impact calls like vehicle accidents and vegetation fires," he added. "We have Highway 88 and Highway 12, and we respond to quite a few accidents on the roads."

Not only does Weber lead the department, he also teaches a variety of fire safety classes for the state, including water rescue, fire boat operations and trench rescue.

Weber is married with two sons, who are 16 and 10, and said his eldest may be interested in a fire service career, although he is looking into other interests.

Lockeford residents will have a chance to meet Weber on Aug. 26 when the department hosts an open house from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the fire station, located at 13157 E. Brandt Road.

"We'll be showcasing what we do, all the equipment we use, like a drone system we recently purchased," he said. "We'll also do some demonstrations like a vehicle extrication. We're just trying to get the public in to see what the department is all about."

Guests can mingle with the crew and have a free hot dog or hamburger lunch, provided by the Clements Lions Club.

There will also be an informational booth for anyone who would like to sign up as a reserve firefighter.

"We're always looking for reserves," Weber said. "We're not filling slots right now, but anyone who's interested in joining the team at some point can come down and learn more more about what we do."

For more information about the open house, visit www.facebook.com/mkefire13, or call 209-727-2244.