Chief Elam began his career as a recruit firefighter in 1994.  He has been part of the EFD technical rescue team and was involved with the original committee that developed the OK-TF1 State USAR Team that was started in 2001. He continued serving as a member of this team until 2016. Chief Elam, along with two members of the Edmond Fire Department, joined the LSU task force for training when hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans allowing for him to be one of the first on the scene. Within the first 24hrs of rescue operations in New Orleans, his team pulled over 1000 people to safety from floodwaters.  Chief Elam also taught for Rescue Training Associates from 2002 to 2006, teaching training procedures such as trench rescue and structural collapse rescue to hundreds of firefighters throughout the United States.  In 2016 Elam was promoted to Chief of Training by the City of Edmond Fire Department. Chief Elam plans to retire in 2024 and become a full-time Papa to his five grandkids.