Joseph F. Zahralban was sworn in as the City of Miami’s 19th Fire Chief since the department’s inception in 1898. Chief Zahralban oversees a Class 1 Fire Department comprised of 789 uniformed personnel and 98 civilian employees. The City of Miami has a residential population of approximately 488,011 and a daytime population of approximately one (1) million. The Department of Fire-Rescue has an annual operating budget of $160 million.

He had the distinct honor of leading the Urban Search and Rescue Team on approximately 15 national and international deployments including the earthquake that devastated the island nation of Haiti in January of 2010.

In 2011, he was promoted to Assistant Fire Chief /Emergency Manager where he assumed command of the Office of Emergency Management, which is responsible for coordinating citywide emergency operations, readiness, training, and emergency management-related activities for all City Departments, as well as, directing the Public Information Office and Public Education sections.

In 2013, he was promoted to the rank of Deputy Fire Chief of Administration where he proudly served for three years overseeing the department’s budget as well as the divisions of Emergency Management, Technical Services, Management Services, Emergency Medical Services and Logistics.