From the City of Sugar Land:
Sugar Land Fire-EMS Chief Doug Boeker plans to retire on Oct. 20.
His 32 years of public service with SLFD-EMS included six years as Fire-EMS chief.
“I’d like to thank Doug for his lengthy service to our community and his trailblazing efforts to keep our residents safer than ever before,” said City Manager Michael W. Goodrum. “His passion for the department and our community is unrivaled. I wish him the best as he embarks on this new chapter in his life.”
Even though Boeker studied pre-engineering at Sam Houston State straight out of high school, he knew his interest was in the fire service. He paused his college efforts to attend the fire academy and after graduating at the top of his class, it validated what he already knew— public service was his calling.
He joined the Sugar Land Fire Department in 1992 in support of a soon to open third station and has spent his entire career serving Sugar Land.
Boeker rode fire trucks for the first 20 years with Sugar Land prior to promoting to the administrative command staff. He has served as a firefighter, lieutenant and battalion chief before his promotion to chief in 2018.
“I have witnessed first-hand the incredible passion Doug has to help people,” said Deputy City Manager Jennifer May. “His passion to serve is authentic, and his extensive industry expertise will not be easily replaced. Chief Boeker has taught us all so much about how to truly care for not just the community – but also the entire Fire-EMS family, and there is no doubt that he is leaving an incredible legacy of leadership and service in Sugar Land.”
His many accomplishments have included a leadership role to improve customer experience by delivering hospital quality care in the prehospital setting, developing an aggressive recruitment program to ensure Sugar Land Fire-EMS is fully staffed and spearheading cultural change to empower all levels of the department to lead and innovate. His contributions toward other departmental accomplishments follow:
- He managed the implementation of Senior Fires and Falls, a safety prevention program launched at several assisted living facilities in Sugar Land.
- Boeker assisted with the implementation of an ambulance service that was launched after years of rapid growth in Sugar Land necessitated a change in EMS delivery. The service improved advanced life support service for Sugar Land residents.
- Boeker took a leadership role in the creation of the Sugar Land Fired Up 5K, a sanctioned race attended by roughly 700 runners held for many years out of Fire Station 5.
- He has also led youth outreach programs such as Shattered Dreams, Decisions Matter and Crud Wars.
“I entered this industry because I have a passion to serve, and it’s been my great honor to work with the most compassionate, highly skilled men and women in the fire service,” said Boeker. “They are the best in the business, and what I’ll miss the most is my daily interactions with our team and their relentless efforts to harness their energy to drive innovation and excellence while making a difference every single day. I am confident we now have a robust leadership team at all levels of the department that will continue to provide the highest level of service to our community.”