Chief Craig Covey began his emergency services career in 1990 as an emergency medical technician and paramedic. In 1994, he became a Firefighter/Paramedic with the City of Buena Park Fire Department, joining the Orange County Fire Department (OCFA) that same year with the transition of fire protection services. In the nearly three decades since, Chief Covey worked his way up the OCFA ranks, promoting to Battalion Chief in 2015. In October 2022, he was promoted to Division Chief - Division 1 and oversees OCFA operations in Garden Grove, Los Alamitos, Seal Beach, and Westminster.

All the while, Chief Covey continuously worked to expand his experience in various leadership positions, including as a Search Team Manager and Task Force Leader on OCFA’s FEMA Urban Search and Rescue CA Task Force 5, a Crew Chief and Program Manager for Air Operations, a Division Administrative Captain, Vice Chair of the FIRESCOPE Aviation Working Group, and Operations Section Chief for OCFA’s All-Hazard Incident Management Team 1. In 2019, Chief Covey also managed the initial implementation of the Fire Integrated Real-Time Intelligence System (FIRIS) pilot program.

Chief Covey resides in Costa Mesa with his wife, Leah, and two grown children, McKenna and Jake.