Four Candidates Vie For Valley Fire Post

The four men being considered to head up Spokane Valley Fire range from the district’s former fire prevention division chief to the president of the state fire chiefs association.

Chief Karl Bold will step down when a new chief is hired. Bold was former chief Rod Tedrow’s handpicked successor when Tedrow retired in August.

Bold resigned in mid-January through a mutual agreement between him and the board of commissioners. He will return to the position of assistant chief.

The district’s board of commissioners will interview the four candidates on Tuesday and could decide by Wednesday, Commissioner Ray Allen said.

The four candidates are:

Randy Coggan, 43, was formerly chief of the Redmond (Wash.) Fire Department.

In October, he was fired by the mayor who defeated the mayor who had hired him. Coggan called the termination “purely political” and said he does not let it affect his confidence in his abilities. “I have too much energy” for that, he said.

Coggan has served as fire chief in Naples, Fla., and in Ventura County, Calif., a 450-person department, with 31 stations and an operating budget of $43 million.

He entered the fire service in 1974 as a volunteer in Prince George’s County, Md. After obtaining a law degree, he worked as an assistant state attorney, but quit to join the Metro Sarasota Fire Department in 1981. He stayed until 1987 and rose to the position of assistant chief.

Part of what attracts Coggan to the Valley Fire position, he said, is the growth the community is experiencing. “I don’t want to go somewhere where there isn’t anything to be done,” he said.

Coggan is married and has two children.

Jim Davis, 41, is chief of the Woodinville Fire and Life Safety District in Woodinville, Wash.

A Spokane native and graduate of Gonzaga Prep, Davis joined the Air Force Fire Department in 1973 and served all over the world, from New York state to Germany, before returning to the Inland Northwest.

He joined the Coeur d’Alene Fire Department in 1977 and became assistant chief in 1980. While in Coeur d’Alene, he helped set up the department’s fire prevention bureau.

He then took a job as assistant chief in Woodinville and became chief there in 1987. The district has a population of 46,000, with five stations and a $5.5 million budget.

Davis said his interest in the Valley Fire position is “preliminary.”

“I’m very happy where I’m at,” Davis said. “There are a lot of things in my mind before I’d even consider the position.”

Many members of Davis’ family still live in the Spokane area, including his mother, two brothers and sister.

Davis is married and has five children.

Pat Humphries, 48, is executive deputy chief of the Vancouver (Wash.) Fire Department.

Humphries was chief of Clark County Fire District 5 for 13 years. When Vancouver’s city and county forces consolidated in April of 1994, he became executive deputy chief of the new organization.

Humphries joined District 5 as fire marshal in 1977. He became deputy chief in 1979, and chief in 1981.

Originally from Wenatchee, Humphries joined the Air Force and served in Vietnam as a firefighter on a crash and rescue team. He also served at Fairchild Air Force Base in the early 1970s.

After that, Humphries served at fire districts in Wenatchee and Beaverton, Ore. He is president of the Washington State Association of Fire Chiefs.

Humphries’ wife, Rebecca Charlton Humphries, is from Spokane. He and his wife recently purchased 40 acres at Lake Roosevelt. Humphries’ wife’s family has lived in the Spokane area for at least 40 years. His mother-in-law just moved from the city to the Valley.

Clyde Wisenor, 54, retired from the Valley Fire District in March 1993 as fire prevention division chief.

After schooling to become an electrician and a job as a meat cutter, a neighbor urged him to take the test to become a firefighter.

“I came out No. 1 on the list and went on in 1969,” Wisenor said. He stayed with the district for 24 years and became an arson investigator in 1983.

He was instrumental in developing the district’s fire prevention unit which took on the responsibilities of building inspections.

Wisenor also served as a lieutenant and as a union president.

Although he said he’s enjoying his retirement, Wisenor said he’d always wanted to take a shot at being chief.

“I’m a known entity. I have proven leadership and management ability,” he said. “I’m up front and honest. That’s the way I deal with people. I find that it works well.”

Wisenor has lived in the Valley for about 30 years. He’s married, has five children and seven grandchildren.