Meet Ken Prillaman

  Ken Prillaman was appointed Fire Chief, City of Wichita Falls, Texas on July 15, 2019. He previously served as Fire Chief, Fire Marshal and Emergency Management Director for the City of Brooklyn Park, Minnesota. 

He has two Associate Degrees in Fire Science and graduated Magna Cum Laude from Columbia Southern University, with a Bachelor’s Degree in Fire Administration with a Fire Investigation major. He is a Nationally Certified Fire Officer III, Fire Investigator, Fire Instructor II as well as an IAAI-Fire Investigation Technician and Evidence Collection Technician. 

Ken was a Minnesota Certified Emergency Management Director and is a National Registry EMT. Ken has an excellent reputation as a command officer and has taught incident command in high-rise operations for the National Fire Academy. Ken is a credentialled Chief Fire Officer from the Center for Public Safety Excellence and a Certified Fire Executive from the Texas Fire Chiefs Academy. 

Ken has served in a variety of regional and state leadership roles including service as the Deputy Director in the Minneapolis MACS Emergency Operations Center for Super Bowl 52. Ken is a member of the North Texas All Hazard Incident Management Team and he serves on the weekend staff of the National Fallen Firefighter Memorial in Emmitsburg, MD. Ken wrote and published the Minnesota Ceremonies & Protocol Guidebook, heralded as the most comprehensive guide of its type in the fire service.

Ken is an accomplished public speaker and has presented at dozens of local, state and national meetings and various organizations. He and his family have devoted free time to helping parents keep their kids safe on the internet. His presentation “Parents vs. Predators” has received national acclaim and has been developed into a made-for-television documentary that won a 2012 Telly Award. 

In 2018, Ken wrote and published his first book, “Leadership Lessons from the Fireground.” Ken has been awarded the President’s Leadership Award from both the Minnesota and Texas State Fire Chiefs Associations and was named the 2023 Texas Fire Chief of the Year.

After more than 45 years since he began his fire service career, Ken retired from active duty on March 31, 2023 and established Five Trumpet Advisors, a professional consulting firm. Ken and his wife, Debbie, reside in Wichita Falls. Ken spends free time traveling, golfing and speaking to various groups on leadership.