Fire Officials Regret Loss Of Bill Allen’s Expertise

Already faced with the possibility of two new members being elected in the Nov. 7 general election, Valley Fire District commissioners must now appoint a new commissioner.

Fire commissioner Bill Allen died last Thursday, leaving vacant the position he had held for the past nine years. Allen, who was appointed to the board in January of 1986, had battled a kidney problem for many years.

A memorial service was held Wednesday for Allen, prompting the cancelation of the fire commissioners’ meeting.

Wednesday’s meeting was rescheduled for Nov. 8 so the board can discuss how to proceed with appointing a new member.

“We will not be doing anything about appointing anyone until the new members are on board,” said Harry Larned, fire commission chairman.

Fire commissioners have 60 days to fill Allen’s unexpired term, which has a year left. If they are unable to come to a consensus on a successor for Allen, county commissioners will then have 30 days to fill the vacancy.

“Bill is a helluva guy to have to replace,” Larned said. “The guy was made of pure leather - raw hide - he was a tough little guy.”

With Allen’s death and the upcoming election, potentially three new members could join the board by January.

Larned and Ron Schmidt are running for re-election. Lynn Schindler is challenging Larned and James Fox is running opposite Schmidt. Both seats are six-year terms.

The potential for a board shakeup comes less than a year after Valley Fire named Pat Humphries its third chief in 16 months. Humphries was hired to replace Karl Bold, who was asked to step down only months after replacing retired chief Rod Tedrow.

But fire commissioners remained confident that the upcoming election and appointment of Allen’s successor will not threaten the stability Valley Fire has worked to restore.

“The death of Bill Allen is a blow to us, but the chief has gotten his feet on the ground very well now,” said Commissioner Tom Gregory. “We’re in good shape as far as the district goes.”

Encouraging to Humphries and the commissioners are the quality of candidates vying for seats on the board. Three of the four candidates have served on the fire board. And Schindler, the sole candidate without prior fire board experience, has a strong business background, they said.

“The people that are running are good people,” Humphries said.

However, all said they would miss Allen’s experience.

“Bill was a retired firefighter, and because he was, he brought in the perspective of firefighters - particularly on safety and equipment issues,” said Commissioner Ray Allen.

Perhaps even more so, they will miss Allen’s dependability. He rarely missed a meeting.

“A lot of people knew Bill, he’s going to be missed,” Gregory added. “He was Mr. Reliable on the board.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo