After 10 years of leading the Geneva Fire Department, Chief Mike Antenore announced his retirement, effective Aug. 14.

The Geneva City Council approved Mayor Kevin Burns’ appointment of Deputy Chief Matt Lohse as the city’s next chief.

Antenore has been chief for 10 years, but he started as a paid-on-call firefighter in 1996.

“It has been 43 years of full-time jobs,” Antenore said at the May 18 City Council meeting. “This has been the best job I’ve ever had. I get up every morning with still the excitement of what the day is going to bring. Go home every night and say, ‘It’ll be another day tomorrow.’”

Antenore admitted to some trepidation about retirement life.

“But I’m humbled to have served the community for 30 years as firefighter and fire chief,” Antenore said. “It’s been a fantastic calling.”

Antenore said he saw a newspaper ad for paid-on-call firefighters in 1995.

“It said you had to be 35 or less and I was 34,” Antenore said.

“‘I don’t know if I really fit,’” Antenore recalled saying to Fire Chief Steve Olson. “‘I work in an office, blah blah blah.’ He [Olson] said, ‘We’ve got all types of folks. Just come on down and see what you think about it.’ They say you either love it or you hate it. I loved it.”

Antenore said he would miss it.

“I’ll have to learn how to sleep through the night again and not carry two phones in my pockets,” Antenore said.

“Geneva is grateful to Chief Antenore for his tenure as Fire Chief and decades-long service as a firefighter,” Burns said in a news release. “His leadership, passion and selfless contributions are immeasurable, and his legacy is defined by cultivating a fire department rooted in compassion and commitment to public service.”

Antenore is also a member of the International Association of Fire Chiefs, Illinois Fire Chiefs Association, Kane County Fire Chiefs Association, Mutual Aid Box Alarm System – Division 13. He is chairperson of the Tri-Com Central Dispatch Board of Directors. He also has served as a volunteer with the Commission on Fire Accreditation International as a peer assessor since 2017, officials said in a news release.

There will be a 90-day transition for Lohse to assume the duties of chief, Antenore said.

“Lohse is well-prepared, working for the last three years together,” Antenore said. “You’re going to be in great hands.”

Lohse will lead a combination fire department currently composed of 21 full-time firefighter/paramedics, eight contract paramedic/firefighters and more than 35 paid-on-call firefighters.

Burns introduced Lohse, saying that as deputy chief, he has “stood by the chief’s side, led with the chief, and clearly the chief’s recommendation of you speaks to your character, your integrity, your promise, your potential.”

“We are delighted that this unanimous vote supports you in assuming that position in August of this year,” Burns said.

Lohse began his fire service career as a paid-on-call firefighter in 1997 in South Elgin, then was hired in Geneva.

Back then, there would be 200 applicants to take the fire service test for no positions, Lohse said.

“We go to the orientation and they go, ‘Just to tell everybody, we have no jobs. The list is good for two years,’” Lohse said. “Then it’s like, ‘What do we do? Do we stay or do we go?’ I want to say that there was over 100 people that tested in Geneva when I tested. And I think the list got down to 20 and I was in the top 10.”

Through retirements and others moving on, Lohse said he was hired.

“I’m very grateful for everything that the city of Geneva has given to me and given to my family,” Lohse said.

“This is also an opportunity for me as a leader of this organization to not only give back to the members of our department, but to continue to give back to the community,” Lohse said. “I look forward to working with everybody and continuing the relationships that we’ve built throughout the city.”

A strong advocate for education and training, Lohse received a Bachelor of Science degree in fire administration in 2023 and a Master’s of Science in fire administration in 2025 from Columbia Southern University, officials said in a news release.

The Commission on Fire Accreditation International has accredited the Geneva Fire Department since 2001. The department holds an Insurance Services Office Class 2 rating, used to help set property premium rates. A Class 2 designation puts a department in the top echelon of 4% to 10% of all fire departments nationwide.