News brief: Chehalis fire chief search ends with nobody chosen

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – None of the finalists for Chehalis fire chief made the cut.

Chehalis City Manager Merlin MacReynold announced yesterday he appointed the city’s police chief as interim fire chief. Chief Glenn Schaffer will oversee the operations of both departments for the time being.

The city had identified three men as finalists for the position after a nationwide search and conducted extensive interviews early last month.

MacReynold said in a news release yesterday the process has concluded without him selecting a replacement.

“I am disappointed that we were not able to find the right candidate, but with a new city manager coming on board in a couple months it makes sense for them to determine how to proceed,” MacReynold stated.

The retiring city manager did not give a reason.

Recruiting efforts for a new chief came after the resignation about six months ago of half-time Fire Chief Jim Walkowski. Walkowski was also leading neighboring Riverside Fire Authority in Centralia, but moved to Spokane County to take a new job amid drastic budget cuts in Centralia.

The Chehalis Fire Department had a full time chief until April of last year.

MacReynold had said he believed it would take him a week or two to make a decision after Sept. 8 when the three finalists met with numerous panels and the city council. Two weeks later he said he was still waiting to hear from a couple of references.

The candidates were Gary Woodson, former fire chief for Pendleton, Ore. Fire and Ambulance Department who had been in the fire service since 1974; Joseph Sands, an engineer-paramedic in Billings, Montana, with experience as both assistant and interim chief; and Jeff Larson, who for 13 of the past 30 years of fire service was suppression battalion chief with the city of Lodi, California.

MacReynold had said finding the right fit for the community was his primary goal.

Schaffer’s new dual role begins Thursday, according to MacReynold.

Capt. Rob Gebhart who has been serving as interim chief since May will return to his captain duties.
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For background, read : “News brief: Meet Chehalis fire chief candidates” from Sunday Sept. 7, 2014, here

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 7th, 2014 at 6:31 pm and is filed under News briefs. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

2 Responses to “News brief: Chehalis fire chief search ends with nobody chosen”

  1. BobbyinLC says:
    Wednesday, October 8, 2014 at 9:41 am

    I agree. Glen Shaffer is a great police chief but the two services are vastly different. I guess from a managerial standpoint, budgets, etc the jobs are similar but the actual operations? Is Glen expected to respond to building fires to make command decisions? That is not fair to him or the citizens of Chehalis.

  2. Station 48 fan says:
    Tuesday, October 7, 2014 at 10:10 pm

    so now the city manager is gonna let the POLICE CHIEF be the FIRE CHIEF?? OH YEAH THAT IS A GREAT IDEA…NOT!!!
    I have said it before LET GEBHART KEEP IT.. OR Give it to someone else in the department.. I would rather see someone from the inside do it.. rather than hire new..Yes that may not be an option.. But having the POLICE CHIEF be the FIRE CHIEF too??? That is just not good for anyone.. Open up the search again and get candidates for the job and then let the new City Manager pick one. This is just ridiculous!! Being Police Chief is a FULL TIME JOB.. Not a PART TIME JOB.. Same goes for Fire Chief.. Come on Chehalis get this job FILLED NOW…