Assistant Fire Chiefs Rick Mack, left, and Mike Kytta, watch the board vote to promote Kytta to the top post at Riverside Fire Authority.
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CENTRALIA – Assistant Chief Mike Kytta will replace outgoing Chief Jim Walkowski at Riverside Fire Authority, the department that protects Centralia and it surrounding area.
The move came this evening when the agency’s board of commissioners accepted Walkowski’s resignation and voted to appoint the Fords Prairie resident to the top spot.
“Thank you for the opportunity, it’s an honor to assume that position,” Kytta responded. “I’m looking forward to working with the board, the labor unit, the volunteers and most importantly the community.
“I’m optimistic we will find a way to preserve services for the community.”
Kytta, 54, was chief for a decade of the former Lewis County Fire District 12 which completed a merger with the Centralia Fire Department under Walkowski’s leadership.
Kytta voluntarily stepped down to minimize potential conflicts as that process moved along with the hiring of Walkowski from outside the area.
He was honored by his peers statewide in 2006 with a “Chief Award” in part because of that move, which the Washington State Association of Fire Chief’s called his uncommon commitment to doing the right thing for the public.
Now however, facing a steeply declining budget, the organization has cut firefighter positions this year. It was poised to trim the trio of top officers down to two, when Walkowski accepted a position earlier this month in the Spokane area. He will remain at Riverside through the end of this month.
Kytta, a Centralia native, was a 16-year-old Explorer Scout when he began as a volunteer firefighter. He has 38 years of experience, the past 17 as a full time firefighter.
He has his work cut out for him.
Because of a changing landscape regarding the collection of property taxes, Riverside is operating with an annual budget of about $3.9 million, compared with $4.6 million last year.
It is on track to lose six paid personnel this year, to meet that budget.
The board is planning to ask voters in August for what’s called an excess levy, to prevent next year’s revenue from dropping to $3.1 million, a scenario the department’s leaders say would mean a much different service level for fires and medical calls.
Kytta has grave concerns about explaining the need to the public, without coming across as threatening.
On the promotion, he says:
“It’s exciting, in that I am optimistic,” he said. “I have very deep concerns if we’re not able to earn the public’s support on the levy.”
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter
Great guy, very unassuming and humble. He will be a great leader for RFA
Congratulations to Chief Mike Kytta, I have known Mike for over 30 years, a very dynamic person of great experience. The future of our beloved RFA is in his hands, there should be no doubt that the financial crisis that looms in the future can be solved, it is a question of how much taxation will the tax payers support.
We should all remember that much of the RFA is covered by dedicated Volunteer First Responders, backed up by equally dedicated Career Firefighters and Paramedics from the Centralia/Fords Prairie area.
Here is a fact that was reported last year in the media, there are over 2800 less Volunteer Firefighters in the State of Washington, the RFA is not the only Fire Department that is wrestling with a dwindling pool of persons willing to serve, so with this said we all need to ask a simple question. What is the protection of out homes and families worth, and can we afford that price?
Again I would like to congratulate Mike Kytta on his promotion, and thank the other member of the RFA for there dedication and service.
Good choice. Mike Kytta is a local guy who has a ton of experience with this department and isn’t going to view this job as a stepping stone to a better job elsewhere or bail out at the first sign of adversity…he WANTS to be here. Kudos, Mike.
Congratulations to Chief Mike Kytta, One of the nicest people and a all around people person. A person that deserves to have this post with all he has done for Dist. 12 and the Fords Prairie area over the years. It is good to see it go to a local and hard working person. I have seen him work all areas of his job from fires to first aid and helping at auto accidents and using the jaws of life. Chief Kytta will benefit the whole Centralia area….
P.S. I did not have to use a fake name to post