Chief Joe Tjaden has been with the fire department for over 27 years and is now retired from Rapid City Fire Department where he last served as a Captain at RCFD station 6.
Asst. Chief Tim Kobes has been with the department for over 47 years, he was the Chief for many years at Rapid Valley Fire Department. He is retired from Rapid City Fire Department where he last served as the Operations Chief for several years.
Asst Chief Hunter Vissia is the newest Chief officer at the department. He previously served as the personnel Capt. and Lt. He is also serves as a FF\Medic for Rapid City Fire Department.
Chaplain Brent Woodard is the chaplain and also firefighter representative for the department. He is also the Pastor of the Bible Christian Church in Rapid Valley.
Captain Levi Woodard has been with Rapid Valley since 2015 and currently is the supply officer. He works for a global cyber security company and regularly draws on that skillset for the fire department’s use.
(No current photo) Lt. Kevin Palaski currently serves as a admin officer for the department. He is a youth care worker at Wellfully providing inpatient drug rehabilitation and residential behavioral healthcare for adolescents.
Lt. Jacob McIntyre is our training Lieutenant. He is responsible for establishing trainings, setting up classes and getting qualification records in order. He is a Resident Firefighter, and currently works as a part time Welder.
Lt. Eric Dotson is our personnel Lieutenant. He is responsible for processing applications, background checks, and maintaining records pertinent to members of the department. He also is a part time firefighter for Black Hawk Volunteer Fire Department.
Lt. Jenifer Truax has been with the department for 5 years, she currently serves as the department treasurer. She also works for the City of Rapid City as an Administrative Coordinator.
Capt. Jim Bussell is the Training captain. He oversees the training program looking for new training opportunities and classes to present to the dept. He is currently a Captain of Rapid City fire dept.