BOUNTIFUL—Jeff Larsen, the newly appointed South Davis Metro Fire Chief knew at an early age that he wanted to help people and serve the community. For the last 30 years, he’s done just that. As Fire Chief he plans to continue his passion for service. 

Larsen was selected and ratified by the South Davis Metro Fire Service Area Board of Commissioners May 18, 2026. Prior to the appointment he was the Interim Chief and assumed that position after the passing of Fire Chief Greg Stewart.

“I started in EMS (Emergency Medical Services) for (Gold Cross) Ambulance in 1996,” said Larsen. “Then I was hired on with South Davis Fire District as a part-time firefighter in 1997. I continued to work part time at South Davis and attended paramedic school at Weber State in the emergency care and rescue program.”

In 2000, Larsen was hired as a full-time firefighter/paramedic for West Valley City Fire Department. “I worked there for just shy of five years while I continued to work part time for South Davis Fire District,” he said. “I helped to build a paramedic program in the conception of the consolidation. Then when we consolidated South Davis Fire District and Bountiful City Fire Department I came over as a full-time firefighter/paramedic in April of 2005 and I’ve been here ever since.”

Larsen’s roots run deep in Davis County. “I was born and raised in south Davis County. I attended Jenny P. Stewart Elementary and then in the fourth grade I went up to Hannah Holbrook Elementary. I went to Bountiful Junior High and graduated from Bountiful High School in the class of 1995.”

Ironically, Larsen was born at Lakeview Hospital. “It’s been fun throughout my career and working closely with Lakeview Hospital in our partnership to do what we can for the citizens of south Davis County.”

Larsen said his interest in firefighting and emergency services started with his father. “My dad worked as a part-paid firefighter for South Davis Fire District. I remember as a young child when he would carry around a pager and the pager would go off and I would be with him and he would take me on several occasions to the fire station.”

There were several kids that would just hang out at the fire station while their dads would take off and go take care of the fire, he said. “As I started to grow up a little bit, I had a really strong interest in the EMS side of the job in emergency medicine. I’ve had some really fun opportunities of working in the emergency department up at the University of Utah as an EMT technician and then also had the opportunity to fly as a flight paramedic out of the University of Utah for AirMed.”

In his career, Larsen has seen a lot of hard things. “I’ve had the ability to see the outside perspective of this career, which is we are there to help the situation and to do everything that we can,” he said. “I try to find the good and remember the good calls where the outcomes are successful. I understand that as long as we arrive and we are prepared and we do the best that we can, at the end of the day we can go home away from work and that we can know that we did everything that we could to try to help the situation.”

South Davis Metro Fire passed its 20 year mark last year, said Larsen. “As we continue to grow and watch the communities continue to grow and transition more to high density housing and to watch the communities evolve it’s exciting for us as an organization.”

Amid the tough calls, there are others that are fulfilling, he said. “Recently we just visited, at  University of Utah, with a driver of a large semi truck. He experienced a blown tire down on Legacy Highway in Centerville.”

It was a very complex call and the response was robust from the department, Larsen said. “It was very complex because of the extrication that was required for this gentleman and we had efforts from the University of Utah AirMed and then our department with the extrication.”

That call was in February 2025. “The patient came back,” said Larsen. “Unfortunately, he did have a partial amputation of his leg due to the accident but he’s been fitted with a prosthetic. He was doing really well and has a unique perspective on life after this accident and has a great outlook and a great attitude.”

As complicated as that incident was at the time it happened, seeing that gentleman come back and watching him interacting with the crews that were taking care of him at the time of the accident, those are the types of stories that are fun, he said. 

It’s an incredible honor to be appointed as Fire Chief, said Larsen. “I’m excited for the opportunity to lead this organization. We have an incredible staff of firefighters. I’m excited to serve the communities where my roots are, where I grew up, where I was born and raised.”

It’s incredibly humbling, he said. “To think I started out as a part-time firefighter at the age of 20 and here I am now as the Fire Chief.”