Chief of the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department

The Chief of the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department is the senior executive officer for the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department.

The first chief hired by Fairfax County was John Carper of the McLean Volunteer Fire Department during World War II, although this was mostly to make sure that the 11 volunteer departments in the county were apportioned materials such as gasoline and tires and other items made scarce due to wartime rationing.

The first person to hold the office of Fire Services Administrator was Willis H. Burton, Jr., who was appointed in 1963.

In 1971 the new position of Director of Fire and Rescue Services was created by the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors and George H. Alexander was appointed to the office. The main difference between the new position and the old was that the position of Fire Services Administrator was mostly administrative, while the Director of Fire and Rescue Services had both administrative and operational control over the county's fire and rescue services.

As part of another reorganization of the department in 1982, the title of Director was discontinued and replaced with that of Chief.