Fire Captain to Retire After 31 Years of Service

Clovis Fire Department Captain Jim Stemler (center) will be retiring after 31 years of service. (Courtesy of Clovis Fire Department)

Clovis Fire Department Captain Jim Stemler is retiring from service after 31 years with the department.

Stemler has been with the department since 1989 and was promoted to his current rank of captain in the year 2000.

Stemler spent four years in the Air Force before becoming a safety officer for the City of Fresno. He was there for two years before joining the Clovis Fire Department.

During his time with the department, Stemlers has been a long time member of the Clovis Fire Investigation team.

He has also been an instructor for the Fresno City College Fire Academies and the Clovis Fire Rookie Academies.

Even though he is retiring from the department, Stemler will continue to work in the fire service as he owns a fire investigation service.

One of the things Stemler enjoyed the most about his time in the department was interacting with the community and educating the community about fire safety.

Now that he is retired, Stemler plans to spend more time on the golf course and enjoying more holidays with his family, especially his six daughters.

The department gave thanks to Stemler for his dedication and service to the department and the City of Clovis. Stemler will also be remembered for his famous Firefighter Ball dinner speeches and his search drills.

“The City of Clovis in general is a great city to work for, the Clovis fire department has always been perceived and prided themselves as being one of the best departments in the state,” Stemler said. “the whole fire department starting with the chief are always exploring better ways to do things, keep that mentality and they’ll always be doing the right thing.”

Stemler served the department for the final time last night when he took command of his team and responded to a fire call.

The Clovis Roundup would like to thank Jim Stemler for his service to the community and best wishes in his retirement.

Jorge Rodriguez has a passion for journalism and wants to bring the community information and great stories. After high school Jorge joined the U.S. Army and while in active duty he was deployed twice to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. While in college he worked for the Fresno City College Rampage and the Fresno State Collegian newspapers. He graduated from Fresno State in 2019 with a degree in print journalism.