Chief Cooke is a native Texan who came to Medina County ESD 1 after serving for 26 years in the Northern Houston area where he began as a Volunteer with the Spring Volunteer Fire Department. Chief Cooke was hired as ESD 1's first full-time Fire Chief in October of 2021, he and his wife Christina have two college age children.
Chief Cooke holds a wide range of certifications and training to include a Bachelor of Science in Fire Service Administration from Texas A&M San Antonio, Associates in Fire Science, Master Structural Firefighter, Fire Officer IV, Instructor II, Incident Safety Officer, Intermediate Wildland Firefighter from the Texas Commission on Fire Protection. Licensed Paramedic and EMS Instructor from the Texas Department of Health.
Is a graduate of the Texas Fire Chiefs Academy, and TEEX Fire Service Chief Executive Officer Program and is additionally designated as a Chief Fire Officer (CFO) from the Center for Public Safety Excellence.
Additionally to serving as the Fire Chief for Medina County ESD 1, he is assigned as a Plans Manager for Texas A&M Task Force 1 and has deployed to mulitiple large scale events, allowing him to bring those experiances and applying them here locally in Medina County.