Orcas Meets Fire Chief Candidates

— from Tim Fuller —

The three finalists seeking to be the next fire chief of Orcas Fire and Rescue took part in a special public “meet and greet” this past Friday held at OIFR Station 21, moderated by Bryon Frenyea. Martin Fowler of Vashon, Jason Napier of Bellingham and Scott Williams, currently serving as interim OIFR fire chief, were introduced to a gathering of folks that included several members of OIFR. Following the introductions, Fire Commissioner Barbara Bedell provided an overview of the selection process and identified community members serving on the search committee:

• Barbara Bedell, Chair (Commissioner)
• Paul Kamin
• Clyde Duke, Commissioner
• Pam Harney
• Pierrette Guimond
• Chad Kimple (OIFR) Staff Captain
• Geoff Nelson (OIFR) Volunteer
• Bryon Frenyea (OIFR) Volunteer

On October 14, the application period closed and the committee had eight applications to review. After the review, two applicants were removed from consideration. Vetting included four questions to applicants requiring a written response and a telephone interview which pared the potential candidates to three who then moved on to interviews conducted through Skype. Once cleared by Human Resources, the public meeting on Friday was to get broader community participation in the process and give the three candidates an opportunity to tell us more about themselves and field questions from the public.

Martin Fowler began as a volunteer firefighter on Vashon and over the span of 28 years rose to the rank of Assistant Chief of Operations. He eventually moved on to become the Chief of Instruction, a position he had developed, at the Washington State Fire Academy, a post he held for four years. Fowler bases his leadership style on the 360 degree approach of learning and influencing at all levels of an organization.

Scott Williams started his fire service career in Florida working as a firefighter and paramedic for Brevard County Fire and Rescue. He moved back to his home state of Montana and went to work for the Kalispell Fire Department. He came to Orcas three years ago and was hired as Duty Officer/Paramedic. Earlier this year, following an unexpected transition at the fire chief position, he was tapped to lead the department as interim. Citing the challenges providing emergency service to an island community, Williams described his leadership style as being inclusive and developing solid relationships and trust within the community and department.

Jason Napier started as a volunteer for the Kent, WA, fire department and eventually became a fulltime firefighter there. He gain experience in a number of fire service fields to include hazmat response and Urban Search and Rescue as well as teaching Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT). He then moved into fire prevention and was the Deputy Fire Marshall for Kent. In 2008 he became the Fire Marshall (Division Chief) for the City of Bellingham and was the Director of the Washington State Association of Fire Marshalls. In 2016 he was named interim Fire Marshall for Skagit County. Napier as well ascribes to the 360 degree model of leadership.