All it took was the classic 1970s television show “Emergency,” which combined medical drama with action-adventure, to spark Christopher Sellers interest in fire service.

To be more precise, he envisioned himself as a firefighter-paramedic, and could not fathom entering any other profession. Twenty-eight years later, Sellers has worked his way up the Culver City Fire Department’s ranks to become the newly-appointed fire chief. He was named to the post June 7.

“I didn’t think anything beyond a firefighter paramedic,” Sellers said in an interview this week. “That was truly what I wanted to do, I had no goals or desires to do something else. It wasn’t until I got with the [Culver City Fire] department, and started working, that in time other opportunities came up. …Being a fire chief was never a dream of mine — it was a set of circumstances, opportunities, mentoring, coaching that got me to that place.”

Growing up in a blue-collar family in Burbank, Sellers became used to change after moving to the San Fernando Valley, then to Ventura County. He attended three different high schools between his sophomore and senior years.

The last transition, however, changed his life. Visiting a counselor at Royal High in Simi Valley, Sellers was asked about his interests. He explained that he had a desire to be in fire service, which led him to a grueling selection process for the school’s special cadet program. He was chosen to fill one of two openings.

“I was really fortunate to have been picked,” he said. “That really was the launching pad to my fire service careers. It gave me the opportunity to work and really see what fire service was really about.”

Following this one-year stint, Sellers attended Pierce College to complete EMT courses. He then worked as a reserve firefighter, before being hired as a paramedic by the L.A. City Fire Department.

In the latter position, Sellers would occasionally transport people to Brotman Hospital, bringing him into frequent contact with Culver City paramedics. “They were always friendly, very professional, the hospital staff had a very good reputation for providing good care,” he said. “They just seemed like a good group of people.”

That sparked his interest. On his days off he would drive by the city, engage with the residents, visit the various fire stations and introduce himself to the firefighters. In January 1984, Sellers joined the Culver City Fire Department.

Over the years, he rose through the ranks — serving as engineer, captain, EMS coordinator, battalion chief and assistant fire chief — and is now leading the agency in a period in which it is experiencing some changes.

Fire service “has more than changed my life. It is my life and I could not imagine having done any other type of work,” said Sellers, who holds a bachelor’s degree in Fire Protection Administration and Technology from the California State University, Los Angeles. “I don’t know what else I really would have done. I feel fortunate that I found something that I love and nearly 30 years later I still enjoy coming to work and am still as excited about it as I was the first day.”

After the December 2009 retirement of former fire chief Jeffrey Eastman, city officials, citing budget constraints, did not conduct a national search for a successor. Three Culver City Fire Department employees applied, and were evaluated by two panels: One was comprised of council members, the other consisted of a city manager and fire chiefs from neighboring cities.

Sellers believes that while the other applicants — assistant chief Dave White and fire marshal Mike Bowden — were both excellent candidates, he was chosen because he had the opportunity to work as the assistant fire chief under Eastman, and served as acting fire chief during the city’s selection process.

During his time as assistant chief, Sellers said he worked closely with Eastman and assisted with a lot of the day-to-day operations, “so it really does give you insight into how the organization … should be run, [and] the interactions of the city — whether it be other departments or organizations in the city.”

As fire chief, his duties will be to oversee all day-to-day operations, including budget and administrative responsibilities, assisting the six divisions within the department and working closely with each to ensure that they are equipped to support their personnel, who in turn service the community. Another responsibility will be to maintain the city’s partnerships with such cities as Beverly Hills, Santa Monica and Los Angeles, who all have united to focus on further integrating their operations.

In the short term, Sellers and his staff are grappling with a recent wave of budget cuts that have required the department to trim its budget by three percent. For fiscal year 2010-11, the department will eliminate an associate analyst, a permit technician, an EMS coordinator, reducing the total number of employees to 70. The department is currently looking at automated technologies that can help streamline operations, allowing management to adapt to the reduced workforce.

But with 12 employees eligible to retire within the next two years, the department will have to recruit new members to an agency that has hired 26 new firefighters since 2005.

With all of that change afoot, Sellers’ goal as chief is to foster “a well trained, all-risk organization that is prepared to serve the community,” he said. “I see a lot of opportunity here in the city, I like the direction the city is going in, I think the future of the city is bright and for the fire department it is. I want to be a part of that.”