City of Los Angeles
Press Release

Biography for Battalion Chief Millage Peaks

Battalion Chief Millage Peaks is a 33-year veteran of the Los Angeles Fire Department, with an outstanding record as a firefighter, captain and battalion chief. He has served 17 years as chief officer, making him only the fifth African American to reach that rank in the department's history.

Chief Peaks joined the LAFD as a firefighter in January 1976, and quickly rose to the post of Battalion Chief Staff Assistant and Recruitment Officer—thereafter earning a promotion to Captain I in 1984 and Captain II in 1987.

In 1992, Chief Peaks was promoted to lead Battalion 3 in South Los Angeles, overseeing six stations.

In 1994, Chief Peaks took on a special assignment as an Employee Relations Officer, where he played a critical role in the departments labor relations and negotiation of labor contracts.

In 1995, Chief Peaks was appointed to an investigation team tasked with reviewing allegations of mistreatment of female recruits. While the team found the allegations unfounded, Chief Peaks broke rank with Fire Chief Donald Manning and spoke out against the investigation—citing he believed the allegations of mistreatment were in fact real and with merit.

Fire Chief William Bamattre appointed Chief Peaks to serve as his Chief of Staff in 1995 as an emergency appointment, before returning to his employee relations duty for one more year.

In 1996, Chief Peaks assumed command of LAFD's Battalion 18, covering six stations in West Los Angeles. As head of the Battalion, Chief Peaks became a mentor to firefighters under his command – eventually seeing seven of eight advance to the rank of captain.

In 2000, Chief Peaks was appointed Planning Section Commander, followed by a second tour as Battalion Chief of the West LA area.

In 2004 he was named Operations Chief Executive Officer where he assisted in formulating the department's multimillion-dollar budgets.

Chief Peaks most recently served as a Battalion Chief charged with supervising fire stations in Los Angeles International Airport, Westchester, Venice and Mar Vista. In this capacity, Chief Peaks also oversaw the planning, design and construction of LAX Fire Station 80.

Chief Peaks was born in Berkeley, California and raised in Southern California. He received a Bachelors of Arts in Psychology from California State University at Dominguez Hills and Associate of Arts Degree in Chemistry from El Camino Community College.

Chief Peaks is 56 years old, married and has four adult children.