Wichita’s city manager picks new fire chief. Here’s his background

Wichita will have a new fire chief by late August.

After a national search that included no public list of finalists or public forums, City Manager Dennis Marstall announced Wednesday that he chose Michael Mire, a nearly 30-year veteran of the Houston, Texas Fire Department, to replace outgoing Chief Elizabeth Snow, who is retiring.

Mire is the assistant fire chief who oversees emergency response command in Houston. He has been a finalist for several other fire chief jobs across the country, including in Kansas City, Missouri; Des Moines, Iowa; and Boise, Idaho.

He will oversee a department with an $82 million budget and nearly 500 employees as the department faces growing challenges with deteriorating stations, equipment shortages and response time gaps that leave some neighborhoods dangerously exposed.

The Eagle reported in February that department leadership and city management have known for decades that large areas of the city lack adequate fire response because of station locations but have not built a new station since 2009. The city plans to build one new station in 2027, but a study from 2022 said the city needs to build 11 new stations and relocate four others to be able to meet national standards on response times in emergencies.

The study also called for hiring an additional 115 firefighters as soon as possible to adequately staff engines and trucks to comply with national standards while also hiring other firefighters as new stations are built.

Mire will likely play a role in figuring out how to fund those priorities and others moving forward after a failed sales tax election in March. The City Council put $225 million that would have included some fire department infrastructure funding on a March 3 sales-tax ballot that included several other projects, but voters overwhelmingly rejected it.

Mire has been in leadership positions in the Houston department since 2017. He has been with the Houston Fire Department, one of the nation’s largest, since 2002.

Mire served in the United States Army from 1993 to 1999 and began his career in fire services as a firefighter and paramedic with the city of New Orleans in 1997, according to the city’s announcement.

Marstall said in his announcement that Mire “will help take WFD to the next level of success.”

“His background in rising through the firefighter ranks coupled with his operational knowledge and special operations problem-solving abilities made him the standout candidate,” Marstall said in the release. “He will play an instrumental role in setting new standards and addressing the City’s future public safety needs.”

The city’s announcement also includes a statement from Mire.

“I feel privileged to join this great community and serve as the City of Wichita’s next Fire Chief,” he said in the statement. “The WFD is rich in history and traditions, which I aim to respect as we create new legacies for the future. I am grateful for the opportunity to work beside a committed group of firefighters and look forward to leading from the front as we continue our mission of providing superior service to the City of Wichita.”

The Wichita Fire Department provides fire protection services, emergency medical response and other services to than 400,000 residents throughout the Wichita metropolitan area, including in some mutual aid agreements with surrounding communities.

This story was originally published July 15, 2026 at 4:34 PM.