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Chief Karsten Guthrie began his career with Oxnard Fire Department in September 2001. Before being hired with OFD he worked as a lifeguard for Los Angeles County and Ventura State Beaches for a total of 10.5 seasons. He also served as a Volunteer Firefighter for Pepperdine University and Paid-Call Firefighter for Valley Center Fire Protection District. Chief Guthrie has Bachelor’s Degree in Liberal Arts from Masters University in Santa Clarita, and an Associate’s Degree in Fire Technologies from Oxnard College. He also attended the Oxnard College Fire Academy.

Chief Guthrie began his career working on Engine 1 which was a Haz-mat assignment. He also worked as a truck firefighter before promoting to engineer in 2006. He was a truck engineer until he promoted to Captain in 2009; working at stations 3 and 6 on an engine before becoming the departments Training Captain in 2017. Later in 2017 he was promoted to Battalion Chief. During his career Chief Guthrie has been on our Peer Support, Haz-mat, Ocean Rescue and USAR teams. Chief Guthrie has been a part of 2 training cadres for OFD fire academies. Chief Guthrie has helped develop tools and resources for disseminating information within our department specifically in regards to technological resources.