Wrong. Fire chief is not CEO. You don’t need to become an expert in finance, understand investment strategy, operations, staff with many distinct responsibilities. Plus (financial crash aside), when you run a company (that isn’t too big to fail) you actually need to deal with issues of revenue, profit margins, credit. The list goes on and on and on.

Firefighters go to fire school (some don’t). Learn industrial first aid and so on. They spend most of their time at the firehouse washing trucks (unless the station is downtown or some high density area where there is more action). The fire chief is a unionized government employee. No actual accountability. They pet a few dogs, kiss a few babies, and answer a few questions from reporters. Work 20 or 25 years and get their salary for the rest of their lives.

Actually, the Fire Chief is really just a politician not a CEO.