Mayor John B. O’Reilly, Jr. appointed Richard Miller as Dearborn’s fire chief in June 2010, and he began his position in July 2010.

Miller retired as senior battalion chief from the Dearborn department in 2007 and moved on to high level jobs in the private sector.

Miller has an extensive education background in fire science. He  graduated from Eastern Michigan University’s School of Fire Staff and Command in 2001, from Madonna University in 1984 with a bachelor of science degree in fire science/occupational safety and health, and from Henry Ford Community College in 1980 with an associate’s degree in fire science.

He has professional certifications in many areas from the State of Michigan Firefighters Training Council, including in incident command, tactical operations and hazardous materials and is certified as a fire inspector and an emergency medical technician.

Mayor O’Reilly said he chose Miller from a pool of strong candidates because of his background with the Dearborn department, his education credentials, and his experience in the private sector.

Miller began his career as a firefighter in Dearborn in 1982, rising in the ranks as fire inspector in 1992, fire lieutenant in 1998, fire captain in 2002 and senior battalion chief in 2004.

In 2007, he was hired as the Operations Manager for K & S services in Southgate.

In 2009, he joined RAMCO Gershenson (REIT) in Farmington Hills as Operations Manager in the Retail Maintenance Services Division.

Miller is a lifelong Dearborn resident and has volunteered for the Burn Drive, Dearborn Goodfellows, Meals on Wheels and Divine Child Parish.