Cy-Fair Fire Chief Amy Ramon Named 2026 International Association of Fire Chiefs Career Fire Chief of the Year
For families across Cy-Fair, the fire department is often most visible on the worst kind of day — when an ambulance pulls into a neighborhood, firefighters arrive at a burning home or crews respond to a crash along one of the community’s increasingly busy roads.
Behind those responses is a department that has changed considerably as Cy-Fair has grown, and the fire chief who has guided much of that transformation has now received one of the nation’s most prominent fire-service honors.
Cy-Fair Fire Department Chief Amy Ramon has been named the 2026 IAFC Career Fire Chief of the Year by the International Association of Fire Chiefs, an award recognizing leadership, innovation, professional development, integrity, public service and contributions to the fire service.
The honor was presented Aug. 12 during Fire-Rescue International in Kansas City, Missouri. Since 1996, the IAFC has selected one career fire chief and one volunteer fire chief each year for the distinction.
For residents within the Cy-Fair Fire Department's service territory, the award is about more than a national title. It recognizes a period in which a once predominantly volunteer department has been reshaped to keep pace with the extraordinary residential and commercial growth occurring throughout northwest Harris County.
From a Primarily Volunteer Department to a Major Combination Fire and EMS System
Ramon has more than three decades of fire service experience and has led the Cy-Fair Fire Department since 2014. The department's own history identifies her hiring as fire chief that year, while Harris County Emergency Services District No. 9 now operates the Cy-Fair Fire Department and supports both fire suppression and emergency medical services throughout the Cy-Fair area.
When Ramon became chief, only four of the department's 13 stations had 24-hour fire suppression staffing, according to information released with the national award.
Today, Cy-Fair Fire Department is one of the largest combination fire departments in Texas and the country, serving nearly 600,000 residents while continuing to expand personnel, stations, equipment and emergency-response capabilities as the community grows.
That evolution matters in a part of Harris County where subdivisions, schools, apartments, businesses and major transportation corridors have continued to multiply. For residents, a larger and more consistently staffed department can translate into something very practical: having trained firefighters and paramedics available around the clock as call volume and the population increase.
Cy-Fair Fire Department describes itself as one of the largest and busiest combination fire departments in the United States, a system rooted in the volunteer service that built the organization decades ago but now supported by a much broader professional emergency-response structure.
Ramon Put Firefighter Health Alongside Operational Growth
The national recognition also calls attention to an aspect of Ramon's tenure that residents may rarely see from outside the firehouse: efforts to protect the physical and mental health of the people answering those emergency calls.
Ramon championed a comprehensive behavioral health program that provides Cy-Fair Fire Department personnel with counseling and proactive mental health resources. According to the award announcement, the program has achieved utilization of more than 54 percent.
She has also prioritized comprehensive cancer screening designed to improve early detection for firefighters, whose work can expose them to occupational cancer risks over the course of their careers.
Those programs reflect a larger philosophy emphasized in Ramon's selection: building emergency services requires more than stations, fire engines and ambulances. It also requires supporting the firefighters, paramedics, dispatchers and other employees expected to respond repeatedly to traumatic and potentially dangerous situations.
The department's current operations include around-the-clock emergency medical resources in addition to fire suppression, highlighting the breadth of the service residents depend on when they call 911.
National Recognition Follows a Texas Fire Chief of the Year Honor
The IAFC award adds another major distinction to Ramon's career.
She was previously named Fire Chief of the Year by the Texas Fire Chiefs Association, becoming the first woman to receive that statewide recognition. Her background also includes service as a volunteer firefighter before rising through the Cy-Fair organization and eventually becoming chief.
Her influence has extended beyond northwest Harris County through involvement with regional and statewide fire-service organizations, development of future fire-service leaders and advocacy related to firefighter health, safety and sustainable emergency services.
The IAFC's selection process considers qualities that extend beyond the performance of a single department, including innovation, integrity, professional development and broader contributions to fire and emergency services.
Marty Bass, president of Pierce Manufacturing, which partners with the IAFC on the annual awards, said both 2026 recipients reflected those qualities.
“We are honored to recognize Chief Schmidt and Chief Ramon, two exceptional leaders who have dedicated their careers to strengthening the fire service and protecting the people they serve,” Bass said. “Their accomplishments reflect the very best of fire service leadership which include vision, integrity, resilience and a deep commitment to their teams and communities. Pierce Manufacturing is privileged to join the IAFC in celebrating these two remarkable chiefs and the lasting impact of their service.”
Cy-Fair Chief Shares 2026 Honor With South Dakota Volunteer Fire Chief
Ramon was honored alongside Gail Schmidt, chief of the Rockerville Volunteer Fire Department in Rapid City, South Dakota, who was selected as the 2026 IAFC Volunteer Fire Chief of the Year.
Schmidt has served in the volunteer fire service for more than three decades and has led the Rockerville department since 2014. Her accomplishments cited by the IAFC and Pierce include developing a district-owned water system to improve rural firefighting capabilities, leading a regional grant effort that secured more than $915,000 for updated communications equipment and advancing firefighter behavioral-health and training initiatives.
Together, Ramon and Schmidt represent the two sides of an award designed to recognize both career and volunteer fire-service leadership.
What the Award Means Back Home in Cy-Fair
National awards can feel far removed from the neighborhoods where emergency services actually operate, but Ramon's recognition tells part of a distinctly Cy-Fair story.
The community's fire service began with neighbors volunteering to protect other neighbors. Over decades, that system has had to evolve alongside one of the Houston region's growing suburban areas, adding professional staffing, expanded EMS capabilities, new infrastructure and more specialized support while retaining its combination-department roots.
Ramon has spent much of her tenure managing that transition.
For the nearly 600,000 people now served by Cy-Fair Fire Department, the result can be seen every day in something residents understandably hope they will rarely need: an emergency-response system prepared to arrive when they do.
The 2026 IAFC Career Fire Chief of the Year award places a national spotlight on the chief leading that system, but it also recognizes the firefighters, paramedics, dispatchers, staff members and families behind a department that has grown along with the community it serves.
As Cy-Fair continues to change, so will the demands placed on its fire and EMS system.
Stay tuned to My Neighborhood News for updates on Cy-Fair Fire Department, public safety, new fire stations and other developments affecting emergency services across the community.
Tiffany Krenek has been on the My Neighborhood News team since August 2021. She is passionate about curating and sharing content that enriches the lives of our readers in a personal, meaningful way. A loving mother and wife, Tiffany and her family live in the West Houston/Cypress region.
