Dec. 24--Absent the gold badge he wears with his white pressed shirt, few would recognize Jim Critchley as the man who has led the Tucson Fire Department since 2011.
After 29 years of service to the community, he is leaving the department to focus on his health and spend time with his family.
The last few years have been a struggle, with Critchley slowly recovering from a stroke that temporarily paralyzed his right side.
"It took me three months to get back to work and I continued to improve, but six months ago it didn't improve anymore," Critchley said. "I walk with a bigger limp that I did before, so now I am going to take some time."
At 55, Critchley says he isn't going to retire to play golf. After focusing on his health, Critchley says he will likely find a new way to serve.
"I think I have years to go, but I haven't been focusing on me or the family," he said.
At the end of the month, Critchley will retire from the department. "The career span for a metro fire chief is four years and I've got six in," he said.
Critchley joined the department in 1988 and became chief in 2011. Critchley oversaw a department with a $92 million annual budget, 643 full-time-equivalent commissioned personnel and 133 civilian employees.
Friends have suggested that he'd be a good fit for jobs across the globe, including positions in Israel and Saudi Arabia.
Those jobs might sound like an odd fit for a Tucsonan who has spent nearly three decades working for a municipal fire department, but the chief has contacts in the Middle East.
He helped to establish a training program for local firefighters and emergency medical technicians to spend time in Israel to learn how its first responders react to incidents with mass casualties.
The job of a firefighter has evolved since the days when Critchley was helping to deliver babies in the back of fire engines.While newer construction codes have made buildings safer and technology has changed the way fires are fought, the department still must deal with a large amount of medical-related calls.
A small section of the community has fallen through the cracks of the social services safety net and is reliant on calling 911 -- some calling every day -- for medical help.
Critchley says the department has had success by partnering with community and business groups to help the city's most vulnerable population.
The department handled 93,000 emergency calls last fiscal year, making it the 34th busiest department in the country, according to the department's annual report.
The Tucson community has always been supportive, he said, as evidenced by the residents' support of Proposition 101 -- a half-cent city sales tax designed to fix roads and help buy new equipment for first responders. The measure passed overwhelmingly earlier this year.
On Tuesday night, Critchley came before the Tucson City Council one last time in his official capacity.
City Manager Mike Ortega praised Critchley, saying he has been a tireless advocate for both the roughly 750 people in his department and the greater Tucson community.
"I've seen him on many occasions where he could have taken the low road but in every instance took the high road," Ortega said.
Tucson Mayor Jonathan Rothschild remembers one of his first acts as a mayor was the pinning ceremony in which Critchley was promoted to chief.
The chief, he said, was a rare person who could handle the competing demands of administrative duties while handling daily emergencies in the community.
"You've shown the highest integrity, the most frankness and the most fair-mindedness in dealing with situations that are incredibly tough," Rothschild said.
And he did it all, Rothschild said, with a smile.
Critchley was humble, saying the praise was for the accomplishments of the men and women on his staff.
"They truly do some awesome work. I just got to take the credit for it," he told the council.
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