Excerpts from the ChicagoTribune.com:

… Lt. Gov. Evelyn Sanguinetti called [Aurora Fire Marshal] Matt Perez and asked him to apply to be the Illinois Fire Marshal … Perez found out late last week [that] Gov. Bruce Rauner appointed him the [position]. He assumes the post on April 1. … [and] will begin finding out exactly what it takes to do the job … for the whole state.

The state fire marshal’s office has three basic charges: arson investigation and enforcement; public education for fire prevention; and code development and investigation.

Those are the basic things the fire marshal’s office does in Aurora, too, said Aurora Fire Chief John Lehman.

Perez is the son of a long-time police officer in Aurora, Peter Perez, who also served as undersheriff for former Kane County Sheriff George Kramer. He also is the brother of former two-term Kane County Sheriff Pat Perez.

Matt Perez joined the Aurora Fire Department as a firefighter in July 1987, became a paramedic, and rose through the ranks as a lieutenant and captain. Before becoming the fire marshal in 2010, he was in the department’s training division. He is a graduate of Southern Illinois University with a bachelor’s degree in fire service management and lives in Sugar Grove.

Perez said he will be working mainly out of the state fire marshal’s Chicago office, so he will not have to relocate from Sugar Grove to Springfield.

thanks Dan

Tags: , , ,