Howard began his journey in the fire service in 1978 as a Volunteer Firefighter before becoming a full-time Firefighter and Engineer with the Coalinga City Fire Department. In 1990, he began working as a Fire Fighter II with CDF/CAL FIRE Fresno-Kings Unit, where he continued to work as a Fire Apparatus Engineer and Fire Captain. In 2005, Howard transferred to the Training Center in Ione as the Emergency Command Center (ECC) Class Coordinator. In 2009, Howard was promoted to Battalion Chief, with oversight of Specialized Training at the Training Center, until his retirement in 2011. Howard returned to the Training Center as a Fire Captain, Retired Annuitant in 2016.