A change of command ceremony took place on Monday, Oct. 31, transferring the authority of Fire Chief Marc Stolzenberg to newly appointed Fire Chief Marcos De La Rosa.
Chief De La Rosa has been with the City of Coral Gables since 2013 and served previously as Deputy Fire Chief. Prior to joining Coral Gables, De La Rosa was the Fire Chief for the City of Hialeah where he served for 24 years. Chief Stolzenberg is retiring from the Coral Gables Fire Department after 33 years of service.
The ceremony took place at the University of Miami’s Newman Alumni Center. A promotional ceremony for other Fire Department personnel also was conducted.
At the pending retirement of Chief Stolzenberg, the city conducted a national search to identify his successor. The search comprised of a comprehensive evaluation process with candidates, both internal and external to the City Beautiful. At the end of this process, De La Rosa was selected as the next fire chief.
Chief De La Rosa serves as the Miami-Dade County Coordinator for the Florida Fire Chief’s Association State Emergency Response Plan, where he is in charge of allocating emergency personnel and resources to respond to disasters throughout the state of Florida. He holds bachelor’s and master’s Degrees in Public Administration from FIU and a graduate certificate from Homeland Security and Emergency Management.
