When Amy Ramon joined the Cy-Fair Volunteer Fire Department at just 20 years old, she simply wanted to serve her community. Thirty-six years later, that commitment has earned her one of the fire service’s highest individual honors.
Ramon, chief of the Cy-Fair Fire Department, has been named a 2026 International Association of Fire Chiefs Career Fire Chief of the Year. The prestigious national award recognizes exceptional leadership, innovation, integrity and contributions to the fire service throughout a chief’s career.
“This recognition belongs to every member of this department who shows up and does the work every day,” Ramon says. “I’m grateful to our commissioners, our Cy-Fair members, our union partners, and this community for the trust they’ve placed in us.”
Ramon’s career has evolved alongside the community she serves, rising through the ranks from volunteer firefighter and paramedic to station officer, board member and assistant chief of EMS. Following a national search, the Harris County Emergency Services District No. 9 Board of Commissioners hired her as fire chief in July 2014.
Since then, Cy-Fair has experienced extraordinary growth—and so has its fire department.
When Ramon became chief, only four of the department’s 13 stations had 24-hour fire suppression coverage. Today, all 13 operate around the clock, staffed by a combination of full-time, part-time and volunteer personnel. The department now serves more than 600,000 residents and responds to approximately 46,000 emergency incidents annually. Plans call for eight additional stations over the next decade to keep pace with the growing community.
“Chief Ramon has led our organization through some of the roughest waters a chief executive will ever have to navigate,” Assistant Chief of Administration Mike Clements wrote in her nomination praising her steady leadership, sound judgment, and clear vision for the future.
Ramon brings an unusual breadth of expertise to the position. In addition to being a credentialed Chief Fire Officer and Certified Fire Executive, she is a licensed attorney with a Juris Doctorate from South Texas College of Law. Her leadership has emphasized not only operational excellence and fiscal responsibility, but also the well-being of the people behind the uniform.
Under Ramon, the department implemented a comprehensive mental health program offering counseling and proactive support for firefighters and their families, reaching more than 54 percent utilization among personnel. She has also championed cancer-screening initiatives addressing firefighters’ elevated occupational risks.
Despite leading a large and increasingly complex organization, colleagues say Ramon remains remarkably connected to its people. “The Chief’s door is always open,” Clements notes. Ramon makes a point to know members by name and remember details about their families, hobbies and lives. “In an organization our size, this takes intentionality.”
Her influence extends throughout Texas. Ramon serves in leadership roles with the Harris County and Texas Fire Chiefs Associations, teaches developing fire service leaders and advocates on issues ranging from firefighter wellness to public safety. In 2024, her peers named her Texas Fire Chief of the Year.
Michael Glynn, 11th District Vice President of the International Association of Fire Fighters, praised Ramon’s dedication to improving the fire service, saying that she strives to “leave it better than she found it.”
For a career that began with a young volunteer looking for a way to serve, that may be the most fitting recognition of all.