4 finalists for fire chief

WASILLA — Four people have applied to take the reins of the Central Mat-Su Fire Department.

Dennis Brodigan, director of Emergency Services for the Matanuska-Susitna Borough, said human resources sent him four names on Friday. Two applicants are Borough employees, the third is an Alaska resident and the fourth comes from Washington State, Brodigan said.

The Central Mat-Su Fire Department is the largest and busiest in the Borough. It encompasses 150 square miles, he said. Between fire and ambulance, the district has more than 5,000 calls for service each year.

The position of chief has been vacant since last March, with duties spread between Brodigan, his deputy director Clint Vardeman and acting fire chief Michael Keenan.

Borough Manager John Duffy fired the previous chief, Jack Krill Jr., March 20, 2007, citing a list of complaints about Krill’s management style and decisions. Prior to his dismissal, Krill had fought to keep his job, touching off months of meetings where he said the allegations were overblown, unsubstantiated or untrue.

Brodigan expects a new chief to be in place March 1 at the earliest, April at the latest. The chief will oversee the Wasilla-Lakes Fire Service Area, referred to in Borough-speak as District 1.

The four applicants will sit for interviews Jan. 17 and 18. After that, the selection committee will forward its choice to the Borough’s Human Resources Department, which will pass it on to Duffy, who will ultimately do the hiring.

One person who won’t be interviewed is Keenan. The acting fire chief said Monday he decided not to put his name in for consideration.

Having sat in the chief’s chair for 10 months, Keenan said realized he’d rather return to his old job of assistant chief. The chief doesn’t get to do as many training exercises and other activities as the assistant chief, he said.

“I’m still young enough I want to play a little bit more before I get stuck behind the desk,” he said.

By the time the chief’s job is filled, a year or more will have elapsed since Krill’s termination. The process, Brodigan said, took so long because Borough management took time to realign the responsibilities of the position.

Whoever takes the job won’t oversee both fire and emergency medical services as Krill did, he said. Ambulance oversight will fall to Vardeman.

Ambulance service has always been a mainly Borough function, Brodigan said, and it makes more sense for the Borough to oversee it.

“The District 1 chief, being [in charge of] the largest FSA in the Borough, has enough to do overseeing that without having to oversee the EMS system,” Brodigan said.

That will make Central Mat-Su more like other Borough departments, such as Sutton and Big Lake. Those districts have ambulance chiefs who answer to Vardeman.

Contact Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.