Fire chief selection anticipated at Thursday board meeting

The list of candidates to become Evergreen’s new fire chief has been narrowed to two, both internal applicants. Mike Weege, an assistant chief, and Doug Saba, public information officer, were interviewed by the Evergreen Fire Protection District board in a public meeting on May 8.

Board President George Kling said the board would probably make a final selection at the Thursday, May 10, meeting.

The finalists were selected from a process that started with 76 applications, which were due Jan. 20. Of the 76, 35 were asked to answer a list of essay questions. After receiving 30 responses by the deadline, Feb. 17, the committee selected 12 for further consideration. The fire chief job was posted at a salary of $80,000 to $95,000, depending on experience and qualifications. The previous chief was paid a starting salary of $108,000.

The district has been without a chief since October 2011, when Garry DeJong departed at the end of his contract and took a job as chief of the Lewiston Fire Department in Lewiston, Idaho. Jeff Ashford, chief of the Evergreen Volunteer Fire Department, was named interim fire chief, and Fire Marshal Frank Dearborn was named interim district manager.