Passing the Torch: Scott Williams Completes His First Year as Fire Chief

— by Susan McBain, Orcas Issues reporter —

Scott Williams, Chief of Orcas Fire and Rescue

Scott Williams, Fire Chief for Orcas Island Fire & Rescue (OIFR), came to Orcas for the same reason many people do: he fell in love with the San Juans on a vacation visit.

A long-time kayaker, Scott came out one summer to paddle with friends, then turned that visit into an annual tradition for a number of years. When a friend on Whidbey Island sent him the notice of an opening at OIFR, he applied for it, and moved to Orcas in 2013. He became chief in December 2016.

Scott has been a firefighter and paramedic for 15 years. He has also been an instructor in community college EMS programs and has served as a flight medic. Originally from Montana, he began his career at a large county fire/EMS department in Florida. He soon moved to a smaller department in Cocoa Beach. He came back home to Montana in 2008 and joined the Kalispell Fire Department.

“I really like working in smaller communities,” he says. “That’s one of the things I like best about Orcas, walking down the street and talking to people I know. I also like feeling the support of this community for what we do, and I like supporting the community in return.”

His move to Fire Chief was a transition for him and for OIFR. As a Battalion Chief in the department, he was used to managing operations and personnel, but he had to come up to speed quickly on administrative management. Two new administrative employees had just come on board, and accounting and IRS issues had also become apparent. “The organizational challenges were the big thing at that point. We’ve done a lot of work over the last year to address the various problems and get our processes working smoothly.”

A small department on an island has special challenges. The biggest is the lack of immediate mutual aid. “As far as our fire and EMS services are concerned, we’re it—sometimes for many hours. People can get exhausted pretty quickly on big incidents. And when we get more than one call at a time, that places greater demand on our volunteers and can cause logistical problems.”

“It’s no secret that volunteers are the backbone of our department,” he continues. “We couldn’t function without them. We have only two paid people on duty at any one time, and most incidents require more than that, sometimes many more. We are so fortunate to have so many islanders who step up to meet this critical need.”

Scott has seen the transition of the Board of Fire Commissioners from three members to five. Although he had a good working relationship with the three-member Board, he is pleased to have five members. The absence of one member no longer cancels a board meeting, and board subcommittees are able to work with him on tasks like detailed budget planning without taking up the time of the full board. He also feels that having five members gives the community more avenues for communication. “I fully support them. They work hard for the good of the department and the community,” he says.

He sees continued opportunities to improve how the department functions. The Community Paramedicine program, expected to begin in March, will strengthen the good work currently done by the Orcas Cares program in helping hospital patients return to a sustainable life style at home, as well as provide other supportive services. He would like to increase public education in fire prevention, first aid and CPR, and other medical interventions. Within the department, he wants to strengthen both fire and EMS training and to ensure that department apparatus—fire rigs and ambulances—is kept in top-notch condition.

“The next big initiative is updating our Strategic Plan for the 2019–2023 period. We have to consider future needs for all our services—firefighting, EMS, land rescue, wildland firefighting, and marine rescue. We need to ensure we have the staffing, training, and financing to keep serving this community to the best of our ability.”

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