“You’ve got to love to do it.” The words of Greg Brush as he prepares to assume the duties of Tusayan Fire Chief taking over for Robbie Evans who is retiring.

Brush has lived in Tusayan for 12 years. He has spent seven years as a volunteer firefighter for Tusayan. He is also a certified paramedic.  Brush has also served as a captain for the Grand Canyon Fire Department.

Brush says of Evans, “I have some incredibly big shoes to fill.”  And like Evans, Brush intends to be a working fire chief.

The Tusayan Fire District Board extended an offer to Brush in late July. Fire Board President John Vail said, “We had five applicants total and we had a community committee get together.”  That Committee included the City, the Chamber of Commerce, along with the Nation Parks Service, The Forest Service and the airport.

The committee came back with a short list of three and Brush was one of those.

Vail added, “The two other applicants as highly qualified as they were, were not paramedics. And one of our number one requirements was that the chief be a working chief. So we were definitely impressed with Greg’s paramedic certification.

Brush is hoping to make use of trained volunteers to help overcome some recent financial challenges the department has faced.